Giant Coster-Kronig transitions and intrinsic line shapes of the anomalous Pd M45VV Auger spectrum of Pd/Ag(100) dilute surface alloys.

The Pd M4VV and M5VV Auger spectra of the 0.1 ML Pd/Ag(100) dilute surface alloy have been measured using Auger-photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy. The M4VV spectrum indicates that Pd 3d(3/2) core holes have a Coster-Kronig decay rate that is approximately 10 times that of Pd metal. Our calculations show that this giant enhancement arises from the local electronic structure of excited Pd atoms at the surface. Anomalous features in the Auger line shape are similar to those seen in dilute bulk PdAg alloys, and these features in the M5VV and M4VV lines are in good agreement with theoretical predictions.