Direct Hartree-Fock calculation of the cascade decay production of multiply charged ions following inner-shell ionization of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe

Abstract

The charge spectra of multiple ions resulting from vacancy cascades in neon, argon, krypton and xenon are calculated by straightforward construction of de-excitation trees originating from various initial inner-shell vacancies. Included in the calculation are all possible radiative and non-radiative decay channels for each vacancy, and shake-off processes caused by diagram Auger, Coster-Kronig, and radiative transitions. The single-configurational Hartree-Fock approximation is employed to calculate the decay channel branching ratios and the probabilities of shake processes. The energies of levels and transition energies are calculated in the Hartree-Fock-Pauli (HFP) approximation. The dependences of level positions, level splittings, branching ratios, and shake probabilities on a configuration of a decaying ion are accounted for. Good agreement with experiment and some of the earlier calculations is obtained. The role of double electron ejection processes, other than monopole, is discussed.