Characteristics of correlation satellites below 25 eV in xenon probed by pulsed-field-ionization–zero-kinetic-energy photoelectron spectroscopy

The technique of pulsed-field-ionization–zero-kinetic-energy photoelectron spectroscopy, typically applied to the investigation of ionic states of atoms and molecules resulting from single electron excitation, has been used to probe all known correlation ionic states of xenon up to 25 eV. The high-resolution (1 meV) spectra that result show the formation of satellite states clearly resolved from their neighbors. Their intensities are comparable to that of the 5s5p⁶²S_1/2 main line ionic state and for a given multiplet are relatively independent of the total angular momentum of the ionic state formed. The Rydberg states converging onto different ionic limits demonstrate effective lifetimes that are related to the excitation of the associated ionic core. These spectra allow the determination of relative intensities, and from them, the partial cross sections for the formation of each state at threshold. This supplements the existing intensity studies from the near-threshold to the x-ray region and increases our understanding of the dominant correlation processes within this atom as a function of photon energy.