Photoemission from the potassium halides in the photon energy range 7 to 30 eV

The spectral distribution of the photocurrent at different retarding potentials as well as the energy distribution of the photoelectrons at a fixed photon energy have been measured for all potassium halides. The synchrotron radiation of DESY was used as a light source. The samples were thin films evaporated under ultra‐high vacuum. The threshold energy, the distance between the valence band and the K+3p core level, and the position of the Fermi level have been determined. The onset of electron–electron scattering and the appearence of inelastically scattered electrons in the photoemission has been demonstrated. The decay of the core excitons has been investigated. The core exciton structure in the spectra of the photoyield is due to direct recombination. There is some evidence that an Auger process occurs as additional decay mechanism.