Calculation of emission probabilities of X-rays and Auger electrons emitted in radioactive disintegration processes

Abstract

A complete set of data for the decay scheme of a radionuclide requires knowledge of the emission probabilities of X-rays and Auger electrons. If adopted sets of transition probabilities for the transitions of the decay scheme and atomic shell data (such as fluorescence yields and relative emission probabilities) are available, the emission probabilities of the X-rays and Auger electrons can be calculated from these data. Only data calculated in this way are consistent with the adopted input data and can be compared with measured data. Conclusions can be drawn with respect to the internal consistency of the data sets by comparing the measured and calculated data. Hence, the EMISSION program has been developed and tested to calculate X-ray and Auger electron emission probabilities along with their error propagation.