Decay pathways after Xe 3d inner shell ionization using a multi-electron coincidence technique

Cascade Auger electron emission following Xe 3d photoionization has been investigated using a multi-electron coincidence technique, which utilizes an electron spectrometer of magnetic bottle type. It has been found that the Xe²⁺ states of the 4p^-14d^-1 configuration, formed by the Auger decay of the Xe⁺ 3d_{3/2, 5/2} ^-1 states, dominantly turn into triply charged states of the 4d ^-25p^-1/4d^-25s^-1 configurations. The Xe²⁺ 4s^-14d^-1 states, formed by the 3d Auger decay, yield the 4p^-14d^-15p^-1 states as well as the 4d^-3 states. From the coincidence spectrum among three Auger electrons, it is suggested that the Xe²⁺ 4p^-14d ^-1 states give rise to the following cascade processes: 4p ^-14d^-1 → 4d^-25p^-1 → 4d^-15p^-3.