Efficiency of charge transfer in changing the dissociation dynamics of OD+ transients formed after the photo-fragmentation of D2O

We present an investigation of the relaxation dynamics of deuterated water molecules after direct photo-double ionization at 61 eV. We focus on the very rare D+ + O+ + D reaction channel in which the sequential fragmentation mechanisms were found to dominate the dynamics. Aided by theory, the state-selective formation and breakup of the transient OD+(a1Δ, b1Σ+) is traced, and the most likely dissociation path-OD+: a1Δ or b1Σ+ → A 3Π → X 3Σ- → B 3Σ--involving a combination of spin-orbit and non-adiabatic charge transfer transitions is determined. The multi-step transition probability of this complex transition sequence in the intermediate fragment ion is directly evaluated as a function of the energy of the transient OD+ above its lowest dissociation limit from the measured ratio of the D+ + O+ + D and competing D+ + D+ + O sequential fragmentation channels, which are measured simultaneously. Our coupled-channel time-dependent dynamics calculations reproduce the general trends of these multi-state relative transition rates toward the three-body fragmentation channels.

Atomic autoionization in the photo-dissociation of super-excited deuterated water molecules fragmenting into D+ + O+ + D

We present the relaxation dynamics of deuterated water molecules via autoionization, initiated by the absorption of a 61 eV photon, producing the very rare D+ + O+ + D breakup channel. We employ the COLd target recoil ion momentum spectroscopy method to measure the 3D momenta of the ionic fragments and emitted electrons from the dissociating molecule in coincidence. We interpret the results using the potential energy surfaces extracted from multi-reference configuration interaction calculations. The measured particle energy distributions can be related to a super-excited monocationic state located above the double ionization threshold of D2O. The autoionized electron energy shows a sharp distribution centered around 0.5 eV, which is a signature of the atomic oxygen autoionization occurring in the direct and sequential dissociation processes of D2O+* at a large internuclear distance. In this way, an O+ radical fragment and a low-energy electron are created, both of which can trigger secondary reactions in their environment.

Selective bond-breaking in formic acid by dissociative electron attachment

We report the results of a joint experimental and theoretical study of dissociative electron attachment to formic acid (HCOOH) in the 6-9 eV region, where H^- fragment ions are a dominant product. Breaking of the C-H and O-H bonds is distinguished experimentally by deuteration of either site. We show that in this region H^- ions can be produced by formation of two or possibly three Feshbach resonance (doubly-excited anion) states, one of which leads to either C-H or O-H bond scission, while the other can only produce formyloxyl radicals by O-H bond scission. Comparison of experimental and theoretical angular distributions of the anion fragment allows the elucidation of state specific pathways to dissociation.

The Connection between Resonances and Bound States in the Presence of a Coulomb Potential

The connection between resonant metastable states and bound states with changing potential strength in the presence of a Coulomb potential is fundamentally different from the case of short-range potentials. This phenomenon is central to the physics of dissociative recombination of electrons with molecular cations. Here, it is verified computationally that there is no direct connection between the resonance pole of the S-matrix and any pole in the bound state spectrum. A detailed analysis is presented of the analytic structure of the scattering matrix, in which the resonance pole remains distinct in the complex k-plane while a new state appears in the bound state spectrum. A formulation of quantum-defect theory is developed based on the scattering matrix, which nonetheless exposes a close analytic relation between the resonant and bound state poles and thereby reveals the connection between quantum-defect theory and analytic S-matrix theory in the complex energy and momentum planes. One-channel and multichannel versions of the expressions with numerical examples for simple models are given, and the formalism is applied to give a unified picture of ab initio electronic structure and scattering calculations for e-O₂⁺ and e-H₂⁺ scattering.

Resonance signatures in the body-frame valence photoionization of CF4

Photoionization of the 4t₂ orbital of CF₄ shows overlapping resonances close to threshold, leading to a striking inversion of the photoelectron angular distribution when viewed in the body-frame.

Two-Particle Interference of Electron Pairs on a Molecular Level

We investigate the photodouble ionization of H_{2} molecules with 400 eV photons. We find that the emitted electrons do not show any sign of two-center interference fringes in their angular emission distributions if considered separately. In contrast, the quasiparticle consisting of both electrons (i.e., the "dielectron") does. The work highlights the fact that nonlocal effects are embedded everywhere in nature where many-particle processes are involved.

Interchannel coupling effects in the valence photoionization of SF6

The complex Kohn and polyatomic Schwinger variational techniques have been employed to illustrate the interchannel coupling correlation effects in the valence photoionization dynamics of SF6. Partial photoionization cross sections and asymmetry parameters of six valence subshells (1t1g, 5t1u, 1t2u, 3eg, 1t2g, 4t1u) are discussed in the framework of several theoretical and experimental studies. The complex Kohn results are in rather good agreement with experimental results, indicative of the fact that the interchannel coupling effects alter the photoionization dynamics significantly. We find that the dominant effect of interchannel coupling is to reduce the magnitude of shape resonant cross sections near the threshold and to induce resonant features in other channels to which resonances are coupled. The long-standing issue concerning ordering of the valence orbitals is addressed and confirmed 4t1u (6)1t2g (6)3eg (4)(5t1u (6)+1t2u (6)) 1t1g (6) as the most likely ordering.

Signatures of bond formation and bond scission dynamics in dissociative electron attachment to methane

We show that a single T₂ resonance can explain the 10 eV dissociative electron attachment peak in methane.

Fully differential single-photon double ionization of neon and argon

Triply differential cross sections are calculated for one-photon double ionization of neon and argon at various photon energies and electron energy sharings by using a frozen-core treatment to represent the remaining electrons of the residual ion. Angular distributions agree well with all existing experimental data, showing that in spite of its simplicity the method can treat the double ionization of complex targets reliably. A comparison of the cross sections for helium, neon, and argon into the same final state symmetry at the same relative excess energies reveals a distinctive signature of the role of electron correlation in each target.

Imaging polyatomic molecules in three dimensions using molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions

We demonstrate a method for determining the full three-dimensional molecular-frame photoelectron angular distribution in polyatomic molecules using methane as a prototype. Simultaneous double Auger decay and subsequent dissociation allow measurement of the initial momentum vectors of the ionic fragments and the photoelectron in coincidence, allowing full orientation by observing a three-ion decay pathway, (H+, H+, CH2(+)). We find the striking result that at low photoelectron energies the molecule is effectively imaged by the focusing of photoelectrons along bond directions.

Electron diffraction self-imaging of molecular fragmentation in two-step double ionization of water

We doubly ionize H(2)O by single photon absorption at 43 eV leading to H(+) + OH(+). A direct double ionization and a sequential process in which single ionization is followed by rapid dissociation into a proton and an autoionizing OH(*) are identified. The angular distribution of this delayed autoionization electron shows a preferred emission in the direction of the emitted proton. From this diffraction feature we obtain internuclear distances of 700 to 1100 a.u. at which the autoionization of the OH(*) occurs. The experimental findings are in line with calculations of the excited potential energy surfaces and their lifetimes.

Two-electron time-delay interference in atomic double ionization by attosecond pulses

A two-color two-photon atomic double ionization experiment using subfemtosecond uv pulses can be designed such that the sequential two-color process dominates and one electron is ejected by each pulse. Nonetheless, ab initio calculations show that, for sufficiently short pulses, a prominent interference pattern in the joint energy distribution of the sequentially ejected electrons can be observed that is due to their indistinguishability and the exchange symmetry of the wave function.

Imaging the molecular dynamics of dissociative electron attachment to water

Momentum imaging experiments on dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to a water molecule are combined with ab initio theoretical calculations of the angular dependence of the quantum mechanical amplitude for electron attachment to provide a detailed picture of the molecular dynamics of dissociation attachment via the two lowest energy Feshbach resonances. The combination of momentum imaging experiments and theory can reveal dissociation dynamics for which the axial recoil approximation breaks down and thus provides a powerful reaction microscope for DEA to polyatomics.

Classical two-slit interference effects in double photoionization of molecular hydrogen at high energies

Recent experiments on double photoionization of H2 with photon energies between 160 and 240 eV have revealed body-frame angular distributions that suggest classical two-slit interference effects may be present when one electron carries most of the available energy and the second electron is not observed. We report precise quantum mechanical calculations that reproduce the experimental findings. They reveal that the interpretation in terms of classical diffraction is only appropriate at substantially higher photon energies. At the energies considered in the experiment we offer an alternative explanation based on the mixing of two nondiffractive contributions by circularly polarized light.

Ultrafast probing of core hole localization in N2

Although valence electrons are clearly delocalized in molecular bonding frameworks, chemists and physicists have long debated the question of whether the core vacancy created in a homonuclear diatomic molecule by absorption of a single x-ray photon is localized on one atom or delocalized over both. We have been able to clarify this question with an experiment that uses Auger electron angular emission patterns from molecular nitrogen after inner-shell ionization as an ultrafast probe of hole localization. The experiment, along with the accompanying theory, shows that observation of symmetry breaking (localization) or preservation (delocalization) depends on how the quantum entangled Bell state created by Auger decay is detected by the measurement.

Role of nuclear motion in double ionization of molecular hydrogen by a single photon

We examine the origin of recently observed variations with internuclear distance (R) of the fully differential cross sections for double ionization of aligned H2 by absorption of a single photon. Using the results of fully converged numerical solutions of the Schrödinger equation, we show that these variations arise primarily from pronounced differences in the R dependence of the parallel and perpendicular components of the ionization amplitude. We also predict that R dependences should be readily observable in the asymmetry parameter for photodouble ionization, even in experimental measurements that are not differential in the energy sharings between ejected photoelectrons.

Dynamics of low-energy electron attachment to formic acid

Low-energy electrons (<2 eV) can fragment gas phase formic acid (HCOOH) molecules through resonant dissociative attachment processes. Recent experiments have shown that the principal reaction products of such collisions are formate ions (HCOO-) and hydrogen atoms. Using first-principles electron scattering calculations, we have identified the responsible negative ion state as a transient pi* anion. Symmetry considerations dictate that the associated dissociation dynamics are intrinsically polyatomic: a second anion surface, connected to the first by a conical intersection, is involved in the dynamics and the transient anion must necessarily deform to nonplanar geometries before it can dissociate to the observed stable products.

Threshold vibrational excitation of CO2 by slow electrons

Threshold structures, reminiscent of those seen in the polar hydrogen halides, have recently been observed in the cross sections for electron impact excitation of certain vibrational levels of the nonpolar CO2 molecule. These structures occur at energies outside the range where shape resonances dominate the dynamics. We propose a virtual state model that describes the multidimensional nuclear dynamics during the collision and explains quantitatively the selectivity observed in the excitation of the Fermi dyad, as well as the pattern of threshold peaks and oscillations seen in the upper levels of the higher polyads.

Modeling hot, dense hydrogen with a classical spin dependent hamiltonian

Hot, dense hydrogen is studied with a classical model in which the interaction energy between atoms depends on their internal spins as well as their separation distance. The spins are treated as classical variables. This model is used in Monte Carlo simulations to calculate internal energies, pressures, and pair correlation functions, as well as the Hugoniot for shocked liquid deuterium. The results clearly show the transition of hot, dense hydrogen from a molecular to an atomic fluid. Our results are in reasonable agreement with far more elaborate quantum mechanical simulations.

Collisional breakup in a quantum system of three charged particles

Since the invention of quantum mechanics, even the simplest example of the collisional breakup of a system of charged particles, e(-) + H --> H(+) + e(-) + e(-) (where e(-) is an electron and H is hydrogen), has resisted solution and is now one of the last unsolved fundamental problems in atomic physics. A complete solution requires calculation of the energies and directions for a final state in which all three particles are moving away from each other. Even with supercomputers, the correct mathematical description of this state has proved difficult to apply. A framework for solving ionization problems in many areas of chemistry and physics is finally provided by a mathematical transformation of the Schrodinger equation that makes the final state tractable, providing the key to a numerical solution of this problem that reveals its full dynamics.