KLL RESONANT AUGER-ELECTRON EMISSION FROM SILICON-COMPOUNDS IN SOLID-PHASE

The resonant Auger electron emissions from solid silicon compounds with different relaxation properties (Si, SiC, SiO2) have been studied using synchrotron radiation. We found that the energy of the Si KL2,3L2,3 Auger electrons from SiO2 is split into two peaks, i.e. normal and resonant Auger peaks, when the photon energy is close to the Si 1s --> 3p resonance. Such energy splits of the Auger peaks are not observed in Si and SiC, because the core holes are well screened and the charge is delocalized before the core hole decay happens. It was also found that the energy of the resonant Auger peak of SiO2 increases almost in proportion to the photon energy. This gradual energy gain is interpreted as the broad band width of unoccupied valence orbitals of solid SiO2 compared to isolated atoms and molecules in gas phase.