Relaxation of Ne1+ 1s02s22p6 np produced by resonant excitation of an ultraintense ultrafast x-ray pulse

The creation and relaxation of double K-hole states 1s(0)2s(2)2p(6) np (n >= 3) of Ne1+ in the interaction with ultraintense ultrafast x-ray pulses are theoretically investigated. The x-ray photon energies are selected so that x-rays first photoionize 1s(2)2s(2)2p(6) of a neon atom to create a single K-hole state of 1s2s(2)p(6) of Ne1+, which is further excited resonantly to double K-hole states of 1s(0)2s(2)2p(6) np (n >= 3). A time-dependent rate equation is used to investigate the creation and relaxation processes of 1s(0)2s(2)2p(6) np, where the primary microscopic atomic processes including photoexcitation, spontaneous radiation, photoionization and Auger decay are considered. The calculated Auger electron energy spectra are compared with recent experimental results, which shows good agreement. The relative intensity of Auger electrons is very sensitive to the photon energy and bandwidth of x-ray pulses, which could be used as a diagnostic tool for x-ray free electron laser and atom experiments.

Automated summary

The creation and relaxation of double K-hole states 1s(0)2s(2)2p(6) np (n >= 3) of Ne1+ in the interaction with ultraintense ultrafast x-ray pulses are studied theoretically. A time-dependent rate equation is used to investigate the processes, considering the primary microscopic atomic processes including photoexcitation, spontaneous radiation, photoionization and Auger decay. The calculated Auger electron energy spectra show good agreement with recent experimental results, indicating the potential use of Auger electron intensity as a diagnostic tool for x-ray experiments.