Solid state effects on core electron cross-sections used in microanalysis

In quantitative electron energy loss spectroscopy, there has been some controversy as to whether fine structure due to solid state effects leads to errors in quantitative analysis. We consider the oxygen K edges in MnO and MnO₂, which are different environments for the oxygen fine structure. We show that the partial cross-sections as a function of energy window for the oxygen K edge oscillate about the isolated atom partial cross-section. For an energy window larger than 20 eV, the worst-case error is of the order of 5%.