Electron correlation effects in Auger cascades following 2p^-14s excitations in argon

The intermediate coupling and configuration interactions in argon were investigated via electron-electron coindence experiments. The method measured the second step Auger spectra and resonant Auger transitions. Using the multi configuration Dirac-Fock method, the angular distribution parameters and transition rates were calculated for the first-step and cascade Auger transitions. The spectra were least squares fitted using Voigt functions to determine the angular anisotropy parameters of the transitions. The Auger cascade process in Ar was found to be very sensitive to the calculation method. The intensity distributions were more sensitive to the correlation effects than the angular distributions.