Measurement and Fourier transform of extended energy loss fine structure connected with excitation of Au5p3/2 level in Au3Cu(001) crystal

•In used regime of RFA work, resolution is independent on primary energy.•Our preparation of data for Fourier transform is simple and effective.•Method of E0 determination leads to quite reasonable results.•Au5p3/2 level is useful for nearest neighbor distance determination. Extended energy loss fine structure for Au5p3/2 level in Au3Cu(001) crystal was recorded in dN(E)/dE mode with the use of RFA analyzer for electron energy losses from 49 to 303eV, for the primary electron energy Ep ranging from 1103 to 1903eV. For all these records, the minimum corresponding to the loss connected with the Au5p3/2 level excitation was found at 57eV. After numerical integration of the measured spectra and subtraction of their background by a cubic spline procedure, resulting Nr(E) spectra were subjected to the Fourier transform to obtain the radial distribution function F(R). The nearest neighbor distance R1=(2.67±0.03)Å was obtained compared to R1=2.82Å that is known from crystallographic data for the crystal used. This result indicates that the Au5p3/2 electron energy loss can successfully be used in the Extended Energy Loss Fine Structure method for determination of nearest neighbor distance for gold atoms in the solid state surface layer.