Alignment of atomic inner-shells following alpha-decay-induced ionization

• Published in: Journal of physics. B, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Vol. 44; no. 14; p. 145204
• Main Authors: McConnell, S R, Artemyev, A N, Surzhykov, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 28.07.2011; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Atomic and molecular collision processes and interactions; Atomic and molecular physics; Atomic excitation and ionization by electron impact; Atomic properties and interactions with photons; Electron scattering; Exact sciences and technology; Photoionization of atoms and ions; Photon interactions with atoms; Physics; Alignment; Inner-shell ionization; Electron impact ionization; Photoionization; Ionization; Angular momentum; Alpha decay; Theoretical study; Kinetic energy; 34.50.Fa; 23.20.-g; 27.80.+w; 23.60.+e; 27.90.+b
• ISSN: 0953-4075; 1361-6455
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-4075/44/14/145204

Nuclear alpha decay may induce the emission of electrons originally bound to the nucleus. If the ejected electron initially resides in a state with j > 1/2, the residual ion may be aligned. In this article, such an alignment is examined for the L III ionisation of heavy atoms. This work pays particular attention to the effects of shake-off, recoil and nuclear potential screening. To illustrate these effects, we have performed calculations for the decay of the nuclei of neutral Polonium and Thorium atoms over a range of commonly encountered alpha particle kinetic energies (α ∼ O(10 MeV)).