Auger Electrons from Zinc and Cadmium Vapors by Proton and Alpha Particle Bombardments

Abstract

The L- and M-shell Auger electrons from vapors of zinc and cadmium, respectively, excited by protons and alpha particles at 0.5–2.75 MeV in energy have been observed and compared with those by electron excitation. The simultaneous ionicities for the M-shell of zinc and the N-shell of cadmium are estimated from the shift-energies of Auger peaks, as 0.5 for protons and a few for alpha particles in average. Applying Rutherford scattering of projectiles and known ionizing collisions, the Auger yields are converted to the respective ionization cross sections, which fairly well agree with the theory of binary encounter approximation (BEA).