Auger rates for soft x-ray transitions in ionic, atomic and metallic lithium

The importance of orbital relaxation in the computation of Auger transition rates for low-Z atoms is demonstrated for atomic Li (1s, 2s2 to 1s2,ks), where relaxation enhances the computed Auger width by a factor of approximately 16. Solid-state effects are estimated to account for at least a factor-of-three additional enhancement for Li metal: Gamma >or approximately=130 meV. Experimental and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.