Many-electron interactions in the M45-NN Auger spectrum of metallic cadmium

A broad ( approximately 25 eV FWHM) spectrum has been observed in the M 45 -N 23 N 45 Auger energy region of metallic cadmium. The spectrum shows that the one-electron picture of a 4p hole in the final double-hole state breaks down completely because of strong dynamical giant Coster-Kronig 4p -1 4d -1 to or from 4d -3 epsilon f fluctuation and decay processes. The spectrum is compared with the theoretical atomic spectrum calculated by diagrammatic many-body theory. There is excellent agreement. The influence of the many-electron interactions on the M 45 -N 1 N 45 and M 45 -N 23 N 23 Auger spectra is discussed.