Kinetic energy distributions of Ni atoms in six electronic fine struct
ure states ejected from a single crystal Ni{001} surface due to bombar
dment with 5 keV Ar+ ions have been measured. These states arise from
two different electronic configurations, 3d(8)4s(2){a(3)F(4,3,2)} and
3d(9)4s(1) {a(3)D(3/2) or a(1)D(2)}, which form. three distinct fine s
tructure manifolds within 0.422 eV of the F-3(4) ground state. We find
that the band structure effects dominate leading to larger population
s in the excited D-3(3,2) states than found for the ground state.