X-ray and kinetic electron emission by keV proton impacting on fusion-relevant tungsten

We have measured the electron and X-ray emission of tungsten bombarded with proton in the energy range of 50-250 keV. It is found that the total electron yield mainly consists of kinetic electron emission, which results from the excited valence electrons, and presents a similar trend to the curve of stopping power. The ratio between electron yield and electronic energy loss is not constant, but decreases with increasing incident energy. The behavior is interpreted by an expected competitive mechanism of ionization between different shell electrons of target atom. The explanation is verified by the experimental increase of M-shell X-ray emission yield, and the measured and calculated ionization cross section of core and valence electrons.