Enhancement of excited-state population of magnesium ions upon decay of autoionizing resonances

Journal Article · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Physical Review, A; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.43.2338· OSTI ID:6046332

Whitfield, S B; Caldwell, C D ^[1]; Krause, M O ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida (US)
2. Chemistry Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (US)

Decay of autoionizing resonances in atoms often leads to preferential production of excited states of the resulting ion. The population of these states can exceed the population of the ground state by more than an order of magnitude. We report measurements of the branching ratios for Mg{sup +} ions resulting from the decay of selected autoionizing levels. These derive either from single excitation of a 2{ital p} electron or from two-electron excitations. For excited states of the type 2{ital p}{sup 5}({sup 2}{ital P}{sub 1/2,3/2})3{ital s}{sup 2}{ital ns}, {ital n}=4 or 5, production of Mg{sup +} ions having the final configuration 2{ital p}{sup 6}{ital ns} is the predominant decay feature. For {ital n}{gt}5, the predominant decay feature is the 2{ital p}{sup 6}({ital n}+1){ital s} configuration, indicating that shakeup is very strong in the decay of the excited state. For excited states of the type 2{ital p}{sup 5}({sup 2}{ital P}{sub 1/2})5{ital d} and 2{ital p}{sup 5}({sup 2}{ital P}{sub 3/2})6{ital d}, the decay behaves in a manner similar to that of the {ital ns} states. However, for the 2{ital p}{sup 5}({sup 2}{ital P}{sub 1/2})6{ital d} state, the most prominent decay channel appears to be the 2{ital p}{sup 6}11{ital d} state, which leads to the emission of an electron with the same kinetic energy as the {ital L}{sub 2}-{ital M}{sub 1}{ital M1} Auger line.

• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6046332
• Journal Information: Physical Review, A; (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review, A; (USA) Vol. 43:5; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640302* -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Atomic & Molecular Properties & Theory
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
AUTOIONIZATION
BRANCHING RATIO
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
EXCITED STATES
IONIZATION
MAGNESIUM
METALS
OCCUPATION NUMBER
RADIATIONS
RESONANCE
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION