Electron mean free paths for free-electron-like materials

Abstract

Mean free paths for electrons in bulk jellium are calculated for electrons with energies from a few hundred to a few thousand eV and for values of $r_s$ for 1.5 to 5 where $r_s$ is the average distance between valence electrons measured in units of the Bohr radius. Account is taken of exchange and correlation effects in an approximate way. The present theory is compared to previous theories and to experiments on Al, Be, Si, Si${\mathrm{O}}_2$, and ${\mathrm{Al}}_2$ ${\mathrm{O}}_3$, and in most cases the agreement between theory and experiment is quite good.