Auger spectrum of ammonia

The Auger spectrum of ammonia has been measured in the vapor phase, completing the isoelectronic series Ne, HF, H₂O, NH₃, and CH₄. Eleven transitions are possible, but three leading to triplet final states are expected to be very weak. Two others are expected on theoretical grounds to be unresolvable. The spectrum showed seven resolvable peaks, in keeping with these expectations. The peaks range in width from 2.2 to 7.4 eV, the narrowest being associated with vacancies in non-bonding lone-pairs and the broadest with vacancies in bonding orbitals. There is reasonably good agreement between the experimental results and recent theoretical calculations for both energy and intensity.