Measurements of absolute Ar 3s photoionization cross sections

Fragmentation of Molecules by Virtual Photons from Remote Neighbors

It is shown that a molecule can dissociate by the energy transferred from a remote neighbor. This neighbor can be an excited neutral or ionic atom or molecule. If it is an atom, then the transferred energy is, of course, electronic, and in the case of molecules, it can also be vibrational. Explicit examples are given which demonstrate that the transfer can be highly efficient at distances where there is no bonding between the transmitter and the dissociating molecule.

Interatomic and Intermolecular Coulombic Decay

Interatomic or intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) is a nonlocal electronic decay mechanism occurring in weakly bound matter. In an ICD process, energy released by electronic relaxation of an excited atom or molecule leads to ionization of a neighboring one via Coulombic electron interactions. ICD has been predicted theoretically in the mid nineties of the last century, and its existence has been confirmed experimentally approximately ten years later. Since then, a number of fundamental and applied aspects have been studied in this quickly growing field of research. This review provides an introduction to ICD and draws the connection to related energy transfer and ionization processes. The theoretical approaches for the description of ICD as well as the experimental techniques developed and employed for its investigation are described. The existing body of literature on experimental and theoretical studies of ICD processes in different atomic and molecular systems is reviewed.

Accurate Description of Photoionization Dynamical Parameters

Calculation of dynamical parameters for photoionization requires an accurate description of the initial and final states of the system, as well as of the outgoing electron. We show that using a linear combination of atomic orbitals B-spline density functional theory (DFT) method to describe the outgoing electron, in combination with correlated equation of motion coupled cluster singles and double Dyson orbitals, gives good agreement with experiment and outperforms other simpler approaches, like plane and Coulomb waves, used to describe the photoelectron. Results are presented for cross-sections, angular distributions, and dichroic parameters in chiral molecules, as well as for photoionization from excited states. We also present a comparison with the results obtained using Hartree-Fock and DFT molecular orbitals selected according to Koopmans' theorem for the bound states.

Resonance Effects in Photoemission Time Delays

We present measurements of single-photon ionization time delays between the outermost valence electrons of argon and neon using a coincidence detection technique that allows for the simultaneous measurement of both species under identical conditions. The analysis of the measured traces reveals energy-dependent time delays of a few tens of attoseconds with high energy resolution. In contrast to photoelectrons ejected through tunneling, single-photon ionization can be well described in the framework of Wigner time delays. Accordingly, the overall trend of our data is reproduced by recent Wigner time delay calculations. However, besides the general trend we observe resonance features occurring at specific photon energies. These features have been qualitatively reproduced and identified by a calculation using the multiconfigurational Hartree-Fock method, including the influence of doubly excited states and ionization thresholds.

Time delay in the recoiling valence photoemission of ar endohedrally confined in C60

The effects of confinement and electron correlations on the relative time delay between the 3s and 3p photoemissions of Ar confined endohedrally in C60 are investigated using the time-dependent local density approximation--a method that is also found to mostly agree with recent time delay measurements between the 3s and 3p subshells in atomic Ar. At energies in the neighborhood of 3p Cooper minimum, correlations with C60 electrons are found to induce opposite temporal effects in the emission of Ar 3p hybridized symmetrically versus that of Ar 3p hybridized antisymmetrically with C60. A recoil-type interaction model mediated by the confinement is found to best describe the phenomenon.

Interface identification by non-local autoionization transitions

We use an autoionization process that involves ultrafast energy transfer to neighbouring sites to characterize the formation of NeAr van der Waals bonds in clusters formed by a coexpansion of both gases. This autoionization process, the so-called interatomic or intermolecular coulombic decay (ICD), is ubiquitous in weakly bonded systems. The energy of the electron being emitted in the ICD process is shown to be characteristic of the two neighbouring entities and is therefore suggested as a new means for structural investigation, such as interface identification, of weakly bonded complexes.