EELS in the TEM

This review deals with the spectroscopy of the electrons that have passed through a thin sample in a transmission electron microscope. Many of these electrons undergo inelastic scattering and their energy loss provides information about the chemical and structural properties of the specimen. The instrumentation required for EELS and energy-filtered imaging is described, together with the features found in a typical energy-loss spectrum. Examples are given of practical applications of plasmon-loss and core-loss spectroscopy, as well as energy-filtered imaging. Finally, EELS is compared with other spectroscopic techniques in terms of range of application, sensitivity, spatial resolution and radiation damage.