Anomalous natural linewidth in the 2p photoelectron spectrum of SiF4.

The silicon 2p photoelectron spectra for SiH4, SiF4, and SiCl4 have been analyzed to give the natural linewidths of the Si 2p hole states, which reflect the Auger decay rates of the states. For SiH4 the measured width of 38 meV is in approximate agreement with the prediction of the one-center model (32 meV), but that for SiF4 of 79 meV is more than 5 times the value of 14 meV predicted by this model. Approximate theoretical calculations indicate that valence electrons from the fluorine atoms of SiF4 play an important role in the Auger decay via interatomic processes.