Multiple excitations in the K fluorescence emission of Mn, Fe and Ni compounds

The creation and the decay of a 1s vacancy can result in the excitation of a second electron. In this paper, two different modes of 1s core hole creation as a diagnostic tool to study multi-electron excitations in the K fluorescence emission are compared. The 1s core hole excited state can be created either by photoionization or by radioactive K capture decay. In the latter case, a Is electron reacts with a proton in the nucleus to yield a neutron and an escaping electron neutrino. We report a comparison of Kbeta spectra obtained from x-ray excitation in Mn and K capture in 55-Fe in various chemical environments. The Kbeta(1,3) main lines of the photoexcited spectra are broader than the corresponding lines obtained after K capture and the weak satellite lines at higher energies (Kbeta(2,5)) differ in shape. A theoretical model on the basis of different electron relaxation depending on the mode of core-hole creation is presented.