Auger effect

American  

[oh-zhey i-fekt] / oʊˈʒeɪ ɪˌfɛkt /

noun

Physics.

1. a nonradiative process in which an atom in an excited state undergoes a transition to a lower state by the emission of a bound electron Auger electron rather than by the emission of an x-ray.

---

Auger effect British  

/ ˈaʊɡə /

noun

1. the spontaneous emission of an electron instead of a photon by an excited ion as a result of a vacancy being filled in an inner electron shell

---

Etymology

Origin of Auger effect

First recorded 1930–35; named after Pierre V. Auger (1899–1993), French physicist