Dominant Auger Process in Electron-Impact Ionization of Mo Ions

Total ionization cross sections for the highly stripped Mo ions by high-energy electron impact are estimated, including both the direct ionization of outer-shell electrons and the excitation of inner-shell electrons followed by an Auger emission. For highly stripped ions, the excitation to discrete states predominates and enhances the Auger contribution. For the ${\mathrm{Mo}}^{24+}$ ions, the Auger ionization of the $L$-shell electrons dominates over the direct $M$-shell ionization.