Auger effect

The Auger effect (/oʊˈʒeɪ/; French pronunciation: [ˈ/o.ʒe/]) or Auger−Meitner effect is a physical phenomenon in which the filling of an inner-shell vacancy of an atom is accompanied by the emission of an electron from the same atom. When a core electron is removed, leaving a vacancy, an electron from a higher energy level may fall into the vacancy, resulting in a release of energy. For light atoms (Z<12), this energy is most often transferred to a valence electron which is subsequently ejected from the atom. This second ejected electron is called an Auger electron. For heavier atomic nuclei, the release of the energy in the form of an emitted photon becomes gradually more probable.