Emission of core-excited autoionizing sodium atoms from NaCl induced by electron bombardment

In the time-of-flight spectrum of positive ions produced by electron bombardment of NaCl surface a delayed signal of Na⁺ is detected. This observation is attributed to production of core-excited autoionizing metastable Na^** atoms which have their characteristic lifetimes in the 100 ns range. Moreover, it is noticed that the populations of the various metastable Na^** states depend on the NaCl layer thickness. The lifetimes of some quartet metastable Na^** states have been determined as well.