Convolutional smoothing algorithms in electron spectroscopy

Multiple application of the convolutional smoothing algorithm of Savitsky and Golay to electron spectra leads to an undesirable distortion of the lineshape. The use of a single convolution of the data with a suitably‐chosen Gaussian function gives superior results with a large saving in computation. The distortion introduced by this procedure merely simulates the effect of widening the spectrometer slits.