Experimental Determination of Relative Radiative Decay Rates of Vacancies in theKShell

A high-resolution Ge(Li) x-ray spectrometer was used for measuring relative radiative decay rates of vacancies in the $K$ shell of the following atoms: Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Rn, Ra, Th, and U. In the most favorable cases, the x rays following the filling of a $K$ vacancy by $L_{\mathrm{II}}$, $L_{\mathrm{III}}$, $M_{\mathrm{II}}$, $M_{\mathrm{III}}$, $M_{\mathrm{IV}}$, $M_{\mathrm{V}}$, $N_{\mathrm{II}}$, $N_{\mathrm{III}}$, $N_{\mathrm{IV}-\mathrm{V}}$, and $O_{\mathrm{II}-\mathrm{III}}$ electrons were observed and measured. The results were compared with recent relativistic calculations carried out by Scofield.