Total electron impact ionization cross section in rubidium from threshold to 250 eV

A study of ionization in rubidium has been made in a crossed atom-electron beam apparatus. At an electron energy of about 10 eV there is a maximum in the cross section corresponding to the maximum probability for removal of the 5s valence electron. At 16.5 eV we have observed a new peak that is caused by the mechanism of autoionization. For energies below 30 eV there is a good agreement, both in shape and magnitude, between the present measurements and the empirical formula of Lotz. The over-all uncertainty in the measurements is ± 12% which is mostly accounted for by the uncertainty in the determination of the rubidium number density.