Effect of inter-atomic Auger processes on relaxation of electronic vacancies at deep levels of highly ionized atoms in swift heavy ion tracks

We present the results of Monte-Carlo simulations of excitation and subsequent relaxation of the electronic subsystem of quartz in the close vicinity of the swift heavy ion (SHI) trajectory. Comparison between numerical results and experiments detecting X-ray K-shell emission of silicon atoms (KαLⁿ transitions) from quartz aerogel irradiated with SHIs demonstrated that the adequate description of the relaxation kinetics of the excited electronic subsystem of a solid in a SHI track cannot be possible without taking into account fast inter-atomic Auger processes which are absent in gaseous targets.