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The Auger effect (or Oh' jeh) is a phenomenon in physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 in which the transition of an electron
Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
 in an atom
Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
 filling in an inner-shell vacancy causes the emission of another electron. When an electron
Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
 is removed from a core level of an atom
Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
, leaving a vacancy, an electron from a higher energy level may fall into the vacancy, resulting in a release of energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
. Although sometimes this energy is released in the form of an emitted photon
Photon

In physics, the photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic field and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation....
, the energy can also be transferred to another electron, which is ejected from the atom.






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Encyclopedia


The Auger effect (or Oh' jeh) is a phenomenon in physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
 in which the transition of an electron
Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
 in an atom
Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
 filling in an inner-shell vacancy causes the emission of another electron. When an electron
Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
 is removed from a core level of an atom
Atom

|-! bgcolor=gray | Properties|-||}The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a dense, central atomic nucleus surrounded by a electron cloud of electric charge electrons....
, leaving a vacancy, an electron from a higher energy level may fall into the vacancy, resulting in a release of energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
. Although sometimes this energy is released in the form of an emitted photon
Photon

In physics, the photon is an elementary particle, the quantum of the electromagnetic field and the basic unit of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation....
, the energy can also be transferred to another electron, which is ejected from the atom. This second ejected electron is called an Auger electron.

Upon ejection the kinetic energy
Kinetic energy

The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the mechanical work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its current velocity....
 of the Auger electron corresponds to the difference between the energy of the initial electronic transition and the ionization energy for the electron shell
Electron shell

File:Periodic Table of Elements showing Electron Shells.svgAn electron shell may be crudely thought of as an orbit followed by electrons around an atom Atomic nucleus....
 from which the Auger electron was ejected. These energy levels depend on the type of atom and the chemical environment in which the atom was located. Auger electron spectroscopy
Auger electron spectroscopy

Auger electron spectroscopy is a common analytical technique used specifically in the study of surface science and, more generally, in the area of materials science....
 involves the emission of Auger electrons by bombarding a sample with either X-ray
X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 10 to 0.01 nanometers, corresponding to frequency in the range 30 Hertz to 30 Hertz and energies in the range 120 Electron volt to 120 keV....
s or energetic electrons and measures the intensity of Auger electrons as a function of the Auger electron energy. The resulting spectra can be used to determine the identity of the emitting atoms and some information about their environment. Auger recombination
Carrier generation and recombination

In the solid state physics of semiconductors, carrier generation and recombination are processes by which mobile charge carrier s are created and eliminated....
 is a similar Auger effect which occurs in semiconductor
Semiconductor

A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....
s. An electron and electron hole
Electron hole

An electron hole is the conceptual and mathematical opposite of an electron, useful in the study of physics and chemistry. The concept describes the lack of an electron....
 (electron-hole pair) can recombine giving up their energy to an electron in the conduction band, increasing its energy. The reverse effect is known as impact ionization
Impact ionization

Impact ionization is the process in a material by which one energetic charge carrier can lose energy by the creation of other charge carriers....
.

The name "Auger effect" comes from one of its discoverers, Pierre Victor Auger
Pierre Victor Auger

Pierre Victor Auger was a French physicist, born in Paris. He worked in the fields of atomic physics, nuclear physics and cosmic ray physics....
, and not from the similarly-named device, the auger
Auger

An auger is a device for moving material or liquid by means of a rotating helical flighting. The material is moved along the axis of rotation....
.

Discovery

The Auger emission process was discovered in the 1920s by Lise Meitner
Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner was an Austrian-born, later Sweden physics who studied radioactivity and nuclear physics....
, an Austrian physicist. The Auger effect was discovered in 1925 by Pierre Victor Auger
Pierre Victor Auger

Pierre Victor Auger was a French physicist, born in Paris. He worked in the fields of atomic physics, nuclear physics and cosmic ray physics....
 upon analysis of a Wilson cloud chamber
Cloud chamber

[Image:Cloud_chamber_bionerd.jpg|thumb|Cloud chamber with visible tracks from ionizing radiation The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is used for detecting particles of ionizing radiation....
 experiment. High energy X-rays were applied to ionize gas particles and observe photoelectric electrons. Observation of electron tracks independent of the frequency of the incident photon energy suggested a mechanism for electron ionization that was caused from an internal conversion
Internal conversion

Internal conversion is a radioactive decay process where an excited atomic nucleus interacts with an electron in one of the lower atomic orbitals, causing the electron to be emitted from the atom....
 of energy of from a radiationless transition. Further investigation and theoretical work showed that the effect was a radiationless effect more than an internal conversion effect by use of elementary quantum mechanics and transition rate and transition probability calculations. (ref 1)

See also

  • Charge carrier generation and recombination
    Carrier generation and recombination

    In the solid state physics of semiconductors, carrier generation and recombination are processes by which mobile charge carrier s are created and eliminated....
  • Auger electron spectroscopy
    Auger electron spectroscopy

    Auger electron spectroscopy is a common analytical technique used specifically in the study of surface science and, more generally, in the area of materials science....