L-SHELL IONIZATION OF ATOMS AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT DECAY BY RADIATIVE AND NONRADIATIVE-TRANSITIONS

The study of the ionization of atoms resulting in vacancies in their i nner shells and the subsequent decay of the atomic-vacancy states by x -ray and Auger transitions continue to be an active area of interest. A rapid survey of the theoretical efforts to calculate the transition probabilities involving L-subshells in the high-Z atoms is presented. A complete review of the L-1-subshell yields for single-vacancy atomic states obtained by various experimental techniques is included. The p roduction of multiple vacancies in the L shell and the role of the spe ctator vacancies in the decay process is discussed. A detailed case st udy of determining experimentally the number of multiple vacancies pro duced, and the x-ray fluorescence yields during ionization by heavy-io n bombardment is presented. It is established that the effect of spect ator vacancies is to increase the xray fluorescence yields substantial ly.