Optical properties of SiO2 determined by reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy

Reflection electron energy loss spectra (REELS) recorded with a 1 keV electron beam have been used to characterize the surface of amorphous SiO2 compound and to obtain its complex dielectric function in the energy loss range 0–50 eV by their treatment numerically. The optical data have been derived from the energy loss function Im−1/ε using the Kramers–Krönig analysis. The obtained results are very interesting and agree well with the published values obtained by other methods.