CALCULATIONS OF AUGER ENERGIES AND AUTOIONIZATION RATES FOR KLL AND LMM TRANSITIONS INVOLVED IN THE NEUTRALIZATION OF NITROGEN-IONS AT SURFACES

Calculations of KLL and LMM transition energies and autoionisation transition probabilities for KLL transitions are reported for nitrogen ions with different L-shell populations. These quantities are of interest for the understanding of the process of neutralisation of ions at surfaces. A number of experiments have been carried out recently in which KLL and LMM Auger electrons have been observed. The observed energies have been used to obtain information about the number of L (M) electrons present when the KLL (LMM) transitions occur and about the population of the outer shells at this point. The spread in the quantities we report show that only very limited conclusions can be drawn from the observed energies about these two aspects of the neutralisation process.