Measurements of theK-shell ionization cross sections of Si by 3–25-keV electron impact using the thick-target method

Abstract

In this paper, the $K$-shell ionization cross sections of Si element in the threshold energy region of 3--25 keV have been measured by using the thick-target method. With the Monte Carlo simulations, the effects of multiple scattering of incident electrons and from the bremsstrahlung photons and other secondary particles in the thick-target method have been discussed. The detection efficiency calibration in the lower-energy region has been performed by using the bremsstrahlung spectra of thick carbon target by electron impact in combination with the use of standard x-ray sources, and the detector thickness parameters have also been determined by a nonlinear least-squares fit. The ill-posed inverse problem involved in the thick-target method has been dealt with by the Tikhonov regularization method. The experimental $K$-shell ionization cross sections for Si element obtained in this paper have also been compared with some theoretical models, and it has been observed that the experimental data in this paper are in good agreement with the theoretical values based on the distorted-wave Born approximation model developed most recently.