Recently, the applications area of analytical electron microscopy has
been extended to include the study of Extended Energy Loss Fine Structure
(EXELFS). Modulations past an ionization edge in the energy loss spectrum
(EXELFS), contain atomic fine structure information similar to Extended
X-ray Absorbtion Fine Structure (EXAFS). At low momentum transfer the main
contribution to these modulations comes from interference effects between
the outgoing excited inner shell electron waves and electron waves
backscattered from the surrounding atoms. The ability to obtain atomic fine
structure information (such as interatomic distances) combined with the
spatial resolution of an electron microscope is unique and makes EXELFS an
important microanalytical technique.