No abstract available

No abstract available

[en] Short communication

[en] In this review I begin with a brief history of Auger processes, and then present a more detailed review of recent literature reports on physical, molecular, and cellular aspects of Auger emitters, and potential therapeutic applications

[en] The cross section for production of excited Ne ions with double K-shell vacancies is measured by observing the Auger electrons from the decay of these states. A Ne-gas target is bombarded by 1--2-MeV/amu N, O, and F projectiles in various incident charge states. The K-shell Auger hypersatellites are observed only for bare nuclear projectiles. The projectile charge-state dependence, projectile Z dependence, and energy dependence of the cross section suggest K-shell electron exchange as a production mechanism

No abstract available

[en] Induction of apoptosis and micronucleus formation has been studied in a transformed human squamous cell carcinoma cell line (SCL-II) after exposure to the Auger electron emitter Zinc-65 and after external low-LET radiation. Exposure to non-radioactive Zn and unirradiated cells served as controls. Studies on the cellular uptake of ⁶⁵Zn²⁺ have been carried out in vitro and conventional dosimetric models have been applied to derive the absorbed radiation dose. Auger electrons, generated during decay of ⁶⁵Zn²⁺, are strong inducers of micronuclei as well as of apoptosis, in comparison to external low-LET irradiation. The relative biological effectiveness has been determined and was found to be in the range of 1.2-2.7 for the two investigated biological endpoints, depending on which mathematical model for describing the dose-effect curves was used. A non-uniform distribution of intracellular Zn²⁺ was observed, showing a strong signal in the perinuclear region. We conclude that separate radiation weighting factors for Auger electrons should be established depending on the nuclide and its ability to interact with the DNA (e.g. ⁶⁵Zn by Zinc-finger proteins)

[en] Short communication

[en] Whenever an incident energetic particle (X ray, gamma or electron) ejects an electron from a deep shell in the electronic cloud, a more external electron goes to this level to fill the hole. The extra energy can be emitted either as X ray (X ray fluorescence) or as an electron called Auger electron. The ratio between these 2 possibilities depends on the charge number of the atom. For atoms lighter than gadolinium the ejection of an Auger electron is more likely. The energy of the Auger electron depends only on the nature of the atom and not on the energy of the incident particle. This feature is the basis of the Auger electron spectroscopy. Lise Meitner observed and described the 'Auger effect' a few month before Pierre Auger did, but it was in the context of an erroneous interpretation of beta spectra. Pierre Auger worked on an improved cloud chamber able to visualized the complete event: first the production of a photoelectron, then the emission of a ray quantum and the absorption of this quantum by the atom followed by the emission of an electron. Auger claimed to have observed up to 3 successive Auger effects in iodine. (A.C.)

[en] Auger electron spectroscopy (A.E.S.) allows to characterize the atoms lying at surfaces of amorphous and crystalline materials and to investigate their chemical bond. In the case of single crystals it is generally associated with LEED which gives information on the surface structure. After having recalled some principles about radiationless deexcitation of atoms and the related Auger transitions, the problems of interpretation of energy spectra in the case of a single atom and their of an atom bound to neighbours either of the same kind or of a different one, are discussed. Some applications of A.E.S. as an analytical method are finally described