Abstract. Synchrotron radiation was used to excite an inner-shell electron into a Rydberg orbital at the Ar 2p to ns, nd, Kr 3d to np and Xe 4d to n p resonances. The resonant decay into shake-off channels was studied by three different electron measurements. Firstly, threshold electron scans were obtained over the resonances and thresholds. On the first resonance for each atom, photoelectron spectra were collected. The intensity distribution of low kinetic energy electrons was also determined for a few resonances. Finally, a shake calculation was carried out to compare with the experimental shake-off probabilities. Shake-off is observed to be a strong decay channel for these resonances.

Print publication: Issue 19 (14 October 1987)