Influence of inner-shell electron removal on the multiple ionization of Kr and Xe by protons

The multiple ionization of Kr and Xe by protons has been analysed in detail within the independent particle model. The dependence of the multiple ionization cross sections on the values of the ionization probabilities has been investigated for each target subshell and the most relevant pathways for final quadruple to sextuple ionization are identified. The influence of post-collisional ionization probabilities due to Auger-like effects after the removal of one or more inner-shell target electrons has also been considered. It has been observed that, for large final charge states of the target, deep-core ionization plays an important role, due to the increase in the number of ejected electrons arising from post-collisional effects.