Study of the Surface Plasmon in a Thin Copper Film by an Electron Energy Analyser with High Resolution

Abstract

An energy loss peak at 2 eV in the spectrum of electrons transmitted through thin copper films is studied by using energy analyser with high resolution of 50 meV. The observed energy loss spectra are in good agreement with calculated ones. From a theoretical consideration, it is concluded that the 2 eV peak is caused from the excitations of surface plasmon strongly affected by surface oxide layers.