Aloof trajectory interactions of low energy electrons with condensed matter

An exploratory study has been made of the energy loss of a low energy electron incident on a thin dielectric film while it is travelling outside of the dielectric. Quantal theory is used to represent the electron while the polarisation propagator of the dielectric is constructed from local theory for water. Numerical results using this theory have been compared with experimental data from thin, solid amorphous H2O films. Although not strictly comparable, since the media considered are not identical, it is believed that under some circumstances such aloof losses could represent a significant part of the measured loss distributions, particularly at the lower energies employed. (Author)