Spin-resolved (<i>e</i>,2<i>e</i>) coincidences for heavy rare-gas targets

Abstract

It has been well established that the Coulomb force alone can produce spin-dependent effects for electron-impact excitation of heavy rare-gas atoms if the incident electrons are spin polarized and the final J state of the atom is resolved. This effect has become known as the fine-structure effect. Here we demonstrate that the same type of effect may be expected for electron-impact ionization.