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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 81 » Issue 9
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1813–1816 (1998)

Triple Photoionization of Lithium

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R. Wehlitz1,*, M.-T. Huang1, B. D. DePaola2, J. C. Levin3, I. A. Sellin3, T. Nagata4, J. W. Cooper5, and Y. Azuma1
1Photon Factory, IMSS, KEK, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
2J. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506
3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1200
4Meisei University, Hodokubo, Hino, Tokyo 191, Japan
5IPST, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20472

Received 23 February 1998; published in the issue dated 31 August 1998

Triple photoionization of an atomic three-electron system has been observed for the first time. Triply charged lithium (“bare lithium") was found in the photoion spectrum following synchrotron irradiation of neutral Li vapor. Sequential decay processes, which must result in at least one remaining bound electron, cannot account for such triple ionization. We have measured the triple-to-single photoionization ratio between 187 and 424 eV and made the first, rough estimate for this ratio. The measured triple-photoionization cross section never exceeds 6 b.

© 1998 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1813
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1813
PACS:
32.80.Fb

*Electronic address: wehlitz@mail.kek.jp

 
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