K shell ionization cross sections of Au, Pb and Bi induced by low energy proton impact

Abstract K X-ray production cross sections induced by proton impact were measured on thick targets of Au, Pb and Bi in the energy range 0.5 E 0 E 0 > 0.8 MeV, the deduced K shell ionization cross sections are uncertain by 12%, these uncertainties being smaller than those of the data published before. Our experimental results are compared with the semiclassical cross sections calculated within the united atom binding procedure. Experimental values agree well with theoretical ones, their difference being generally smaller than our experimental errors. The ionization cross sections measured for E 0 E 0