X-Ray K- and L-Spectra of Aluminium

Abstract

IN connexion with the results given in the above letter by Siegbahn and Magnusson on the L-spectrum of aluminium, we have made a study of the K-series of the same element to see if analogous effects are to be found here, and also of course at the -line. The two spectrograms reproduced in Fig. 2 of metallic aluminium and aluminium oxide, Al₂O₃, were obtained with a bent crystal of gypsum as grating, radius of curvature 0.5 metre. As seen from these spectrograms, the same characteristic differences appear in the K-series (at about 8 A.) as had been found in the L-series (at about 200 A.). The aluminium metal gives a -line, corresponding to a transition from the free electron levels to the K-level, with a sharp edge at the side of the short wave-lengths, which is not formed by the oxide, where the corresponding line is more symmetrical.