LX-Ray Transition Probabilities in Elements of Medium and High Atomic Numbers

Abstract

The $\frac{L{\gamma }_2}{L{\beta }_3}$, $\frac{L{\gamma }_3}{L{\beta }_3}$, $\frac{L\eta }{L{\beta }_1}$, $\frac{L{\beta }_5}{L{\alpha }_1}$, $\frac{L{\beta }_6}{L{\alpha }_1}$, and $\frac{\mathrm{Ll}}{L{\alpha }_1}$ radiative-transition probability ratios have been measured for 13 elements ranging in atomic number from ${}_{62}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sm}$ to ${}_{92}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{U}$. This has been accomplished by bombarding the elements with an electron beam of constant energy and flux, and counting the x-ray photons emitted by a given electronic transition. The corrected measured ratios are compared with the results calculated on the basis of the relativistic-Hartree-Fock-Slater (RHFS) potential and those calculated on the basis of the relativistic-screened-Coulomb (RSC) potential. In general, values calculated on the basis of RHFS potential are favored except for the $\frac{\mathrm{Ll}}{L{\alpha }_1}$ ratio where the measured values and those obtained from a RSC-potential calculations are in excellent agreement and are as much as 40% lower than the values obtained assuming a RHFS potential. The $\frac{L{\gamma }_2}{L{\beta }_3}$ and $\frac{L{\gamma }_3}{L{\beta }_3}$ values obtained with a RSC potential are as much as an order of magnitude greater than experimental values at high $Z$, and are not included in the graphs. The estimated error of the experimental results is from 10 to 15%. Other experimental values are also included for comparison.