Atomic Readjustment to Vacancies in theKandLShells of Argon

Abstract

The relative abundances have been measured for the argon ions that are formed as the result of atomic readjustment to vacancies in the $K$ and $L$ shells of argon. Initial vacancies were produced by x rays, and the ions were analyzed with a magnetic spectrometer, such as that used by Snell and Pleasonton in their work on radioactive rare gases. A new source volume for extracting the ions was used, and is described. Measurements were made of charge spectra resulting from x rays of the approximate energies 17.5, 4.5, 1.5, and 1.0 keV. The spectra obtained with x-ray energies above the $K$ edge of argon bore a close resemblance to that obtained from ${}_{}{}^{37}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ar}$ ${\to }_{\mathrm{ec}}$ ${}_{}{}^{37}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Cl}$. For comparison with the experimental results each of the charge spectra was computed from knowledge of radiative and Auger transition rates. In addition, calculations were made of the electron shake-off that arises from sudden changes in the effective charge. In general, the agreement between the calculated and the experimental values is good, although there is some evidence that there may be other sources of additional ionization.