The post-collision interaction in the Auger process of electron-impact ionization of Argon

The spectra of the L(3)M(2,3)M(2,3) Auger process of Ar impacted by electrons with energies of 280 - 1000 eV have been obtained, and at low impact-electron energy, the Post-Collision Interaction (PCI) effect has been observed. The signal-to-noise ratio usually becomes seriously worse for low electron-impact energies. This makes the observation of Anger peaks very difficult near the ionization threshold of inner-shell electrons. However, it is necessary to go to the near-threshold impact energy to be able to see the PCI effect. Therefore, in the present experiment, we increased the counting rate by sacrificing the energy resolution of the electron energy analyzer and could go down to a 280-eV impact energy where no PCI broadening effect had been studied previously.