Electron emission inner shell

When the hole in the /th shell is filled by an electron from theyth shell, there is a hole in the latter shell that will in turn be filled by an electron from a higher kth shell. This may result in the emission of a second x-ray, such that one hole in an inner electron shell can result in a cascade of several x-rays having ever-decreasing energies. 

The complete description of the number of Auger electrons that are detected in the energy distribution of electrons coming from a surface under bombardment by a primary electron beam contains many factors. They can be separated into contributions from four basic processes, the creation of inner shell vacancies in atoms of the sample, the emission of electrons as a result of Auger processes resulting from these inner shell vacancies, the transport of those electrons out of the sample, and the detection and measurement of the energy distribution of the electrons coming from the sample. 

The Auger effect is the phenomenon involving electron-hole recombination in an inner-shell vacancy causing the emission of another electron. 

The transitions involved in Auger emission are illustrated in Fig. 10. The primary process is the ionization of an inner shell by bombardment with electrons. The vacancy is then filled by an electron from an outer shell, and the energy released can either appear as an X-ray quantum, or... 

In kinetic emission, at higher kinetic energy above a certain threshold energy the impact of an ion can cause the emission of an electron from an inner shell. The core-ionized atom may subsequently decay by an Auger decay, which leads to the emission of another electron. 

Spectroscopic techniques look at the way photons of light are absorbed quantum mechanically. X-ray photons excite inner-shell electrons, ultra-violet and visible-light photons excite outer-shell (valence) electrons. Infrared photons are less energetic, and induce bond vibrations. Microwaves are less energetic still, and induce molecular rotation. Spectroscopic selection rules are analysed from within the context of optical transitions, including charge-transfer interactions The absorbed photon may be subsequently emitted through one of several different pathways, such as fluorescence or phosphorescence. Other photon emission processes, such as incandescence, are also discussed. 

Three analytical techniques which differ in how the primary vacancies are created share the use of such X-rays to identify the elements present. In X-ray fluorescence, the solid sample is irradiated by an X-ray beam (called the primary beam), which interacts with the atoms in the solid to create inner shell vacancies, which then de-excite via the emission of secondary or fluorescent X-rays - hence the name of the technique. The second uses a beam of electrons to create the initial vacancies, giving rise to the family of techniques known collectively as electron microscopy. The third and most recently developed instrumentation uses (usually) a proton beam to cause the initial vacancies, and is known as particle- (or proton-) induced X-ray emission (PIXE). 

As noted above, there are several ways of creating an inner shell vacancy which may de-excite via the emission of a characteristic X-ray. XRF uses a primary beam of X-rays, but suffers from the fact that the characteristic X-ray spectrum recorded from a solid sample contains a scattered version of the primary spectrum, increasing the background signal and therefore degrading analytical sensitivity. The use of an electron beam to create inner shell... 

This chapter discusses the range of analytical methods which use the properties of X-rays to identify composition. The methods fall into two distinct groups those which study X-rays produced by the atoms to chemically identify the elements present, and X-ray diffraction (XRD), which uses X-rays of known wavelengths to determine the spacing in crystalline structures and therefore identify chemical compounds. The first group includes a variety of methods to identify the elements present, all of which examine the X-rays produced when vacancies in the inner electron shells are filled. These methods vary in how the primary vacancies in the inner electron shell are created. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) uses an X-ray beam to create inner shell vacancies analytical electron microscopy uses electrons, and particle (or proton) induced X-ray emission (PIXE) uses a proton beam. More detailed information on the techniques described here can be found in Ewing (1985, 1997) and Fifield and Kealey (2000). 

Figure 5.1 The X-ray emission and Auger processes (Pollard and Heron 1996 37). An inner shell vacancy is created in the K shell by the photoelectric process (emitted photoelectron not shown), (a) shows the X-ray emission process, where an L shell electron drops down to fill the vacancy, and the excess energy (EK - EL) is carried away as an X-ray photon. In (b), an L shell electron drops down, but the excess energy is carried away by an Auger electron emitted from the M shell, with kinetic energy approximately equal to EK - EL — EM. Reproduced by permission of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Some incident electrons will create inner shell vacancies as described above. The electrons ejected by the primary beam (photoelectrons) can be used analytically (in XPS) but are generally ignored in electron microscopy. The inner shell vacancy can de-excite via the Auger process (Auger electrons are also generally neglected in this application) or via the emission of characteristic X-rays, which are detected and which form the basis of the analytical operation of the electron microscope. 

Following the ejection of an inner shell electron, the vacancy is filled from a higher energy shell, the energy released causing the emission of Auger electrons. 

X-ray fluorescence—X-rays emitted by an x-ray tube irradiate an elemental material causing inner-shell electrons to be ejected. X-ray emission then follows, as with the x-ray tube. 

An alternative mechanism to positron emission, for the conversion of a proton to a neutron, involves a process known as electron capture (EC) in which the nucleus captures an orbital electron from an inner shell to restore the N P ratio. Subsequently, an electron from another orbital falls into the vacancy left in the inner shell and the energy released in the process is emitted as an X-ray, the atomic number again being reduced by one, e.g. 

Quinolizidine alkaloid analysis also utilizes the X-ray method, which is based on the absorption of X-rays, diffraction of X-rays, wavelength, and radiant power measurements of X-rays. When an atom is excited by the removal of an electron from an inner shell, it usually returns to its normal state by transferring an electron from some outer shell to the inner with the consequent emission of energy as an X-ray. The X-ray method is applied to quinolizidine alkaloids which have a crystalline form. In this sense it is the same as the RTG methods, which can be applied only to crystalline materials. X-rays can be absorbed by material and this gives rise to X-ray absorption spectra . The spectrum provides material for the identification of compounds. 

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