Auger electron spectrum and ionization potentials of the HF molecule

The Auger electron spectrum of HF in the gas phase has been measured and the peaks identified with the transitions to the expected final states in H${\mathrm{F}}^{++}$. The relative energies and intensities are quite similar to those for the Auger spectrum of the isoelectronic atom neon. The additional features appearing in the HF spectrum are explained in terms of perturbations to ${\mathrm{Ne}}^{--}$ or ${\mathrm{F}}^{-}$ by an adjacent proton. The ionization potentials of HF have been measured by photoelectron spectroscopy. The energy-loss spectrum for 710-eV electrons incident on HF has been determined and the peaks identified with the expected excited states in the HF molecule.