Evidence of double-vacancy excitations in the x-ray absorption spectrum of zinc

Discontinuities resulting from the simultaneous creation of two electronic vacancies in the inner atomic shells of zinc were observed in the x-ray absorption spectra of the element. Their observed energies and the results obtained from relativistic Hartree-Fock-Slater calculation are in good agreement. Based on the magnitude of the observed discontinuities, the cross section for the one-photon --- two-electron transition in zinc was calculated and found to be (126.0±{}20.7) barn/atom. This represents a change of about 0.5% in the mass absorption cross section.