Electronic structure, electronic decay, and desorption processes of molecular solid SiCl4 following core-level excitation.

Abstract

We report high-resolution Si ${\mathit{L}}_{23}$-edge total-electron-yield (TEY) measurements from solid ${\mathrm{SiCl}}_{4}$, and a comparison with the gas-phase photoabsorption data to characterize the Si(2p) pre-edge spectral features. By applying resonant photoemission spectroscopy, the spectator Auger process is found to be the major decay channel for the resonantly excited Si(2p) core hole of condensed ${\mathrm{SiCl}}_{4}$. Participant Auger decay makes a notable contribution to the resonant Auger processes for core-to-valence excitation. The close resemblance of the photon-stimulated desorption ion spectra and the TEY spectrum was interpreted in terms of the Auger-initiated desorption or Knotek-Feibelman mechanism. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.