L -subshell Coster-Kronig yields of palladium determined via synchrotron-radiation-based high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy

We report on the experimental determination of the palladium L-subshell Coster-Kronig (CK) transition yields via high-resolution measurements of the Lα1,2 (L₃-M4,5) and Lβ₁ (L₂-M₄) x-ray emission lines. The L x-ray spectra were recorded by means of curved crystal spectrometers employing energy-tunable synchrotron radiation for fluorescence production. The CK yields were derived from the relative L x-ray intensity jumps at the L edges by fitting the fluorescence intensities as a function of the photon energy to the photoionization cross sections. The L x-ray intensities were corrected for solid-state effects which were estimated from the comparison of the measured and theoretical Pd L-edge x-ray-absorption spectra. Thanks to high resolution, the partial CK yield f₁₃^L₁L₃M could be extracted from the intensities of the resolved LαM satellite transitions. For f₂₃, f₁₂, and f₁₃ CK rates, values of 0.164±0.033, 0.047±0.001, and 0.730±0.039 were found, respectively. For the partial CK yields f₁₃^L₁L₃M and f₁₃^L₁L₃N, results of 0.406±0.023 and 0.324±0.032, respectively, were obtained.