Siegbahn notation

The Siegbahn notation is used in x-ray spectroscopy to name the spectral lines that are characteristic to elements. It was created by Manne Siegbahn.

The characteristic lines in x-ray emission spectra correspond to electronic transitions where an electron jumps down to an unfilled level in one of the inner shells of an atom. Such a hole in en inner shell may have been produced by bombardment with electrons in an x-ray tube, by other particles as in PIXE, by other x-rays in x-ray fluorescence or by radioactive decay of the atom's nucleus.

The table below show the correspondence between the name of a few lines and the electronic levels.

This notation is widely used in spectroscopy, but the IUPAC (International union of pure and applied chemistry) recommends another notation.

References

• Nomenclature system for x-ray spectroscopy (1991) IUPAC.

See also

• Moseley's law