Experimental determination of line energies, line widths and relative transition probabilities of the Gadolinium L x-ray emission spectrum

In this work the most intense x-ray lines of the L-emission spectrum of gadolinium with respect to line energies, natural line widths, and relative transition probabilities were investigated using monochromatized synchrotron radiation. The measurements were realized in the PTB laboratory at BESSY II by means of an in-house built von Hamos spectrometer based on up to two full-cylinder HAPG mosaic crystals. The von Hamos spectrometer is calibrated by means of elastically scattered photons from the employed synchrotron radiation beamline leading to a well-defined energy scale and an experimentally determined spectrometer response. A selective excitation of the gadolinium L subshells was carried out to ensure a robust deconvolution of neighboring emission lines of different L subshells. The experimental results are discussed in the context of existing data from common databases and published values since significant deviations, especially for the L and L emission lines, are observed. We further substantiate and discuss two satellite lines at the low-energy side of the L and L emission lines arising from the N4,5 subshell.