The effect of inner-shell excitation on Kα emission from aluminum ions

We have calculated spectra due to Kα line emission from aluminum Li-, Be-, B-, C-, N-, O- and F-like ions. The following atomic processes have been taken into account to model the population distribution of the upper levels of these transitions: dielectronic recombination, and inner-shell collisional excitation and deexcitation. From these processes, inner-shell excitation is the dominant populating process. We illustrate this result by calculating and displaying the Kα emission spectra of B- and C-like Al produced under different conditions. These results are relevant for the interpretation of Kα emission spectra generated by plasmas with hot electrons.