Valence Auger decay following3sphotoionization in potassium

Abstract

We have studied photoionization in the inner valence $3s$ subshell of K and the spectroscopic properties of the two $3{s}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}(^{1}S)$ and $(^{3}S)$ resulting states. Similar to the Rb and Cs cases, the lifetime widths of the $(^{1}S)$ and $(^{3}S)$ states are found to be markedly different, due to the electron correlation effects. The main part of the study deals with the subsequent Auger decay of the $3{s}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ states, which have the particularity to involve low energy $(\ensuremath{\sim}5\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV})$ Auger electrons. A magnetic bottle spectrometer with a multicoincidence technique has been used to observe and filter the Auger spectra with respect to the ${\mathrm{K}}^{2+}$ final state. The evolution of these Auger spectra has been investigated near the ionization threshold. They show strong post-collision interaction (PCI) effects, which are well reproduced by semiclassical and eikonal models. They reveal the importance of the photoelectron--Auger-electron interaction associated with these low energy Auger electrons.