Autoionization of Highly Excited Ar+ Ions Produced by Electron Impact

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Abstract
The (M/q)*=10 peak in the mass spectrum of argon observed at ionizing electron energies of 40 to 120 eV (uncorr.), is shown to consist of approximately equal contributions from: (1) surface‐induced transitions of an excited Ar+ ion to Ar2+ at the last ion‐source slit, and (2) an autoionization of an excited Ar+ ion after the last ion‐source slit. By use of an auxiliary slit beyond the last normal ion‐source slit, these two processes were separable, and it is shown that the excited state undergoing surface‐induced transitions is a different state than that undergoing autoionization, with the autoionizing state having an A.P. of 0.5±0.2 eV higher than the state undergoing surface‐induced transitions. The existence of autoionizing states of Ne+ and Ar2+ was also confirmed.

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