corex_read-me.html       last changed: 01-Jun-2025 (aph)

What is this database ?                                                                               

This data base contains over 680 gas phase core excitation spectra of more than 400 pure compounds recorded using the dipole regime inner shell electron energy loss spectroscometer (ISEELS) at McMaster University from 1984 to the present.

Typical uses of these spectra include: (i) helping to identifying unknown species; (ii) reference spectra for quantitative fitting spectra of mixtures, as encountered in X-ray or EELS spectromicroscopy. The references to the spectra (both published and unpublished) are given:
   (1) in the downloadable *.os (csv format) text files
   (2 ) at the end of the corex_index_flat version of the database
   (3) in the associated Core Excitation Bibliography

The spectra are calibrated to well characterized secondary standards using the values listed (CO, CO2, N2, SF6, Ne).
The energy scales are generally accurate to 0.1 eV.

Each data file contains at least two versions of the spectrum:
(1) the as-recorded energy loss spectrum, including pre-edge background, on an accumulated count scale
(2) the same spectrum converted to an oscillator strength per atom scale, after removal of underlying signal from valence continua and lower energy core ionization continua.
(3) a third spectrum is included, whenever the signal of a known contaminant - typically nitrogen or oxygen - has been subtracted.

The spectra are accessed by either:

A) select from the corex_index_flat listing (no PHP)     (use the browser search capability to find species of interest)

OR

B) select from one of the three indices which are generated from the data files
index ordered by compound name
index ordered by molecular formula
Search Database

THEN

(i) identify the species of interest

(ii) click on the data filename link (e.g. for N2 , the filename is nn-0cckk.os). This will either:

for approach A, click - display the text file in the browser;
                           right-click: download the text file by selecting "Save link as ..." to save the text file to the folder of your choice

 for approach B,    a new window will be generated, as indicated below, allowing you to
           display raw or oscillator strength spectra
          and  download the data as a text file.

History
The database was first assembled in 1994 by Adam Hitchcock and made available by Derrick Mancini at a website at Uppsala University (no longer accessible) in conjunction with a publication of an associated bibliography of gas phase core excitation spectra - A.P. Hitchcock and D.C. Mancini, J. Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena 67 (1994) 1-123 (the current version of that bibliography is over 230 pages long)
The database was updated in 1998 by Laura Ennis.
The database was updated in 2002 by David Tulumello and Jasmyn Gill.
The plot display engine (in PHP) was added by David Tulumello in 2003.
The database structure and ploting system was updated by Jacob Stewart-Ornstein in 2005.

Prior to the current version, the last version was posted in June 2016.
This version was posted in June 2025.

The latest version of the associated gas phase core excitation bibliography was posted in June 2025, as an update to the June 2016 version.
That bibliography is a reasonably up-to-date listing of all the literature reporting gas phase inner shell excitation
(electron, photon, or theory) up to mid-2024.

Credits
If you use any data from this database in a publication, please give appropriate credit to the source, both the database, and the publications in the original, peer-reviewed literature, for which a reference is provided in the file header if the spectrum has been published. For more general referencing the database, please cite:
A.P. Hitchcock, Inner shell Excitation Spectroscopy of Molecules using Inelastic Electron Scattering,
Journal. of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena 112 (2000) 9-29.

I thank all the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral fellows who used the McMaster dipole EELS spectrometers to measure the spectra reported in this database. The spectra contained in this data base were recorded by one or more of the following:

Undergraduate students: (bold - B.Sc. theses) T. Steel (1982), Rob McLaren (1986), Bruce Hollebone (1989), Rob DeWitte (1990), Stephen Urquhart (1992), John Lehmann (1998), Laura Ennis (1999), E. Al-Hassan (2000), Esta Halliday (2002), David Tulumello (2002, 2003), Jacob . Stewart-Ornstein (2004-2006), Jerome Cuny (2006), Eric Christensen (2006), S. Chitnis (2007), Katie Harding (2008), Sam Kalirai (2010), Victoria Ju (2011,2012), Robin Hayes (2013), Arjun Patel (2014)

Graduate students: Dave Newbury (1986), Alex Wen (1992), James Francis (1995), Stephen Urquhart (1997), Cassia Turci (1996), Gabriela Eustatiu (2000), Bob Lessard, Antonio Guerra (2006), Jian Wang (2008), Hua Jiang (2005)

Postdoctoral fellows / Research Associates: Izumi Ishii (1985-87), Tolek Tyliszczak (1985-2002), Alex Wen (1992-93), Glyn Cooper (2002-2011)

Visiting researchers: Eckart Ruhl, Mel Robin, Elizabeth Apen, Allen Johnson, Nobuhiro Kosugi, Christine Dezarnaud, Ed Rightor, Cassia Turci