L3-shell ionization of xenon and gold by electron and positron impacts

The plane wave Born approximation with Coulomb, relativistic and exchange corrections is employed to obtain L3-shell ionizsation cross sections of xenon and gold bombarded by electrons and positrons in the energy range varying from the threshold of ionization to 100 keV. For low incident energies the present electron impact cross sections are in very good agreement with the available experimental data for both the targets. For positron impact the agreement between the present results and the limited experimental data is also satisfactory. Near the threshold the calculated electron impact cross sections for both the targets can be represented by a power law over an extended energy region. The value of the power index n agrees with the available experimental value. (orig.)