Electron Inelastic Mean Free Path Theory and Density Functional Theory Resolving Discrepancies for Low-Energy Electrons in Copper

We develop the many-pole dielectric theory of UV plasmon interactions and electron energy losses, and couple our advances with recent developments of Kohn-Sham density functional theory to address observed discrepancies between high-precision measurements and tabulated data for electron inelastic mean free paths (IMFPs). Recent publications have demonstrated that a five standard error difference exists between longstanding theoretical calculations and measurements of electron IMFPs for elemental solids at energies below 120 eV, a critical region for analysis of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and related technologies. Our implementation of improved optical loss spectra and a physical treatment of second-order excitation lifetimes resolves this problem in copper for the first time for energies in excess of 80 eV and substantially improves agreement for lower energy electrons.