Shake-off effect on the portions of energy reemitted by gold atom upon the cascade decay of vacancies in its K to O shells

Abstract

Abstract Cascade decays of single vacancies in K to O shells of the gold atom are simulated by straightforward construction and analysis of the cascade decay trees. Portions of energies (a) absorbed by initially ionized Au atom, (b) reemitted by cascade-produced electrons, and (c) reemitted by cascade-produced photons are calculated with taking into account the shake-off processes caused by the change of atomic core potential during cascade transitions. Au atom absorbs noticeable amount of energy acquired in photoionization act only when ionized in its N and O shells, 33%–45% and 41%–54%, respectively. Except for the case of K-ionization, most of the energy is reemitted by cascade electrons: 57%–64%, 77%–85%, 55%–67%, and 46%–59% during the decay of vacancies in L, M, N, and O shells. Energies carried away by the cascade photons are only important for initial vacancies in K (89%) and L (29%–39%) shells. Inclusion of the shake-off branches in the decay trees increase substantially their complexity, however it leads to comparatively small corrections to calculated portions of energy redistributed through channels a, b, and c. This supports earlier qualitative prediction of small possible effect of the SO processes on the cascades in heavy atoms.