Lα, Lβ, and Lγ x-ray production cross sections for heavy elements by electron impact

Abstract

We have calculated Lα, Lβ, and Lγ x-ray production cross sections by the impact of electrons on Hf, W, Re, Os, Au, and Pb. We used the distorted-wave Born approximation to calculate ionization cross sections of the L subshells of these atoms. Atomic relaxation parameters were taken from the literature. The theoretical predictions are compared with published experimental information. Good agreement is generally found except for Re, where the measured cross sections are systematically lower than the theoretical estimates by around 20 %. The observed discrepancy may be due to the relatively large uncertainty in the determination of the sample thickness.