Radiative transitions in the system of autoionizing levels of cesium atoms excited by electron impact

We study the energy dependences of electron excitation cross sections of the autoionizing levels (5p ⁵6s ²)² P _3/2 and (5p ⁵5d(³ P)6s)² P _3/2, as well as the autoionization cross sections of cesium atoms in the impact energy range from the excitation threshold to 600 eV. It is established that an increase in the excitation cross section of the ² P _3/2 levels (to 60% of the maximum value) and the deep minimum in the autoionization cross section observed in the energy region of 17–27 eV are caused by the predominance of the radiative decay channel for autoionizing levels with excitation thresholds above 17 eV. The high efficiency of the process is mainly related to the resonance excitation of these levels in the near-threshold energy region.