A. De Fanis

Ultrafast dissociation of F 1s excited SF6 probed by electron–ion momentum coincidence spectroscopy

Ultrafast dissociation of the SF6 molecule following F 1s → a*1g excitation has been studied by the coincident measurement of the kinetic energy of the resonantly emitted electron and the momentum of the fragment ion. The nuclear motion takes place on the same time scale as the Auger decay, leading to atomic-like F (1s)-Auger lines in the electron spectrum. De-tuning from the excitation resonance changes the ratio of the two time scales involved. We measured the shift of the atomic-like Auger line and the changes in the parameters that describe the corresponding ionic fragmentation dynamics as a function of the detuning energy. Our data are consistent with predictions based on electron spectroscopic measurements that resolved the Doppler-splitting of the Auger-line. We found that unlike in diatomic molecules a substantial fraction of the excitation energy remains in the neutral fragment(s).

Carbon K-shell photoelectron angular distribution from fixed-in-space CO2 molecules

Measurements of photoelectron angular distributions for carbon K-shell ionization of fixed-in-space CO2 molecules with the molecular axis oriented along, perpendicular and at 45 degrees to the electric vector of the light are reported. The major features of these measured spectra are fairly well reproduced by calculations employing a relaxed-core Hartree-Fock approach. In contrast to the angular distribution for K-shell ionization of N-2, which exhibits a rich structure dominated by the f-wave (l = 3) at the shape resonance, the angular distribution for carbon K-shell photoionization of CO2 is quite unstructured over the entire observed range across the shape resonance.

C1s and O1s photoelectron satellite spectra of CO with symmetry-dependent vibrational excitations

The photoelectron shake-up satellite spectra that accompany the C1s and O1s main lines of carbon monoxide have been studied by a combination of high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and accurate ab initio calculations. The symmetry-adapted cluster-expansion configuration-interaction general-R method satisfactorily reproduces the satellite spectra over a wide energy region, and the quantitative assignments are proposed for the 16 and 12 satellite bands for C1s and O1s spectra, respectively. Satellite peaks above the pi(-1)pi(*) transitions are mainly assigned to the Rydberg excitations accompanying the inner-shell ionization. Many shake-up states, which interact strongly with three-electron processes such as pi(-2)pi(*2) and n(-2)pi(*2), are calculated in the low-energy region, while the continuous Rydberg excitations are obtained with small intensities in the higher-energy region. The vibrational structures of low-lying shake-up states have been examined for both C1s and O1s ionizations. The vibrational structures appear in the low-lying C1s satellite states, and the symmetry-dependent angular distributions for the satellite emission have enabled the Sigma and Pi symmetries to be resolved. On the other hand, the potential curves of the low-lying O1s shake-up states are predicted to be weakly bound or repulsive.

Molecular frame photoelectron angular distribution for oxygen 1s photoemission from CO2 molecules

We have measured photoelectron angular distributions in the molecular frame (MF-PADs) for O 1s photoemission from CO2, using photoelectron-O+–CO+ coincidence momentum imaging. Results for the molecular axis at 0, 45 and 90° to the electric vector of the light are reported. The major features of the MF-PADs are fairly well reproduced by calculations employing a relaxed-core Hartree–Fock approach. Weak asymmetric features are seen through a plane perpendicular to the molecular axis and attributed to symmetry lowering by anti-symmetric stretching motion.

X-ray absorption and resonant Auger spectroscopy of O(2) in the vicinity of the O 1s-->sigma(*) resonance: Experiment and theory.

We report on an experimental and theoretical investigation of x-ray absorption and resonant Auger electron spectra of gas phase O(2) recorded in the vicinity of the O 1s-->sigma(*) excitation region. Our investigation shows that core excitation takes place in a region with multiple crossings of potential energy curves of the excited states. We find a complete breakdown of the diabatic picture for this part of the x-ray absorption spectrum, which allows us to assign an hitherto unexplained fine structure in this spectral region. The experimental Auger data reveal an extended vibrational progression, for the outermost singly ionized X (2)Pi(g) final state, which exhibits strong changes in spectral shape within a short range of photon energy detuning (0 eV>Omega>-0.7 eV). To explain the experimental resonant Auger electron spectra, we use a mixed adiabatic/diabatic picture selecting crossing points according to the strength of the electronic coupling. Reasonable agreement is found between experiment and theory even though the nonadiabatic couplings are neglected. The resonant Auger electron scattering, which is essentially due to decay from dissociative core-excited states, is accompanied by strong lifetime-vibrational and intermediate electronic state interferences as well as an interference with the direct photoionization channel. The overall agreement between the experimental Auger spectra and the calculated spectra supports the mixed diabatic/adiabatic picture.

Angular distribution of different vibrational components of the X and B states reached after resonant Auger decay of core-excited H2O: Experiment and theory

Vibrationally resolved spectra have been obtained for the lowest-lying cationic states X (2)B(1), A (2)A(1), and B (2)B(2) of the water molecule reached after participator resonant Auger decay of core-excited states. The angular distribution has been measured of the first four vibrational components of the X state in the photon energy regions including the O 1s-->4a(1) and the O 1s-->2b(2) core excitations, and for different portions of the vibrational envelope of the B state in the photon energy region including the O 1s-->2b(2) core excitation. For the X state, a large relative spread in beta values of the different vibrational components is observed across both resonances. For the B state, a very different trend is observed for the high binding energy side and the low binding energy side of the related spectral feature as a function of photon energy. A theoretical method based on the scattering K matrix has been used to calculate both the photoabsorption spectrum and the beta values, by taking both interference between direct and resonant photoemission and vibrational/lifetime interference into account. The numerical results show qualitative agreement with the trends detected in the experimental values and explain the conspicuous variations of the beta values primarily in terms of coupling between direct and resonant photoemission by interaction terms of different sign for different final vibrational states.

The O 1s photoelectron spectrum of molecular oxygen revisited

High-resolution photoelectron spectra of the inner-shell levels of molecular oxygen have been measured using synchrotron radiation. The vibrational structure of the two magnetically-split core-shell components is analyzed based upon ab initio calculations. The ratio between the intensities of the two components was analyzed at several different ionization energies up to about 600 eV, and the same is discussed and compared to high-energy ionization intensities. A theoretical calculation shows very good agreement with the measured spectra. The calculation implements a model where two parity components make up the 4Σ peak profile. The gerade–ungerade energy split for this state is found to be 50 meV.

Nuclear motion and symmetry breaking of the B 1s-excited BF3 molecule

Out-of-plane nuclear motion stimulated in the core-excited state and symmetry breaking due to this nuclear motion have been investigated for B Is excitation in the BF3 molecule by a combination of three different experimental methods: angle-resolved ion-yield spectroscopy, vibrationally resolved resonant Auger electron spectroscopy and quadruple-ion coincidence momentum-imaging technique

Probing the valence character of O 1s-->Rydberg excited O2 by participator Auger decay measurements and partial ion yield spectroscopy following x-ray absorption.

The valence character of O 1s-->Rydberg excited O2 is investigated by means of participator Auger decay spectroscopy, performed at selected photon energies across the K-shell resonance region, and by means of partial ion yield x-ray absorption spectroscopy. For several of the excitation energies studied, the authors find substantial sigma*(4Sigmau-, 2Sigmau-) valence character being mixed with nssigma and npsigma (4Sigmau-, 2Sigmau-) Rydberg states. An experimental indication of a coupling between the channels associated with quartet and doublet ion cores is considered and discussed. New spectroscopic constants are derived for the singly ionized X 2Pig state of O2 based on the observation of at least 20 vibrational sublevels.

The excitation mechanism of the lowest-energy satellite bands in the C 1s core level photoemission of CO2

The lowest-energy satellite bands accompanying the C 1s main line have been investigated, using angle-revolved photoelectron spectroscopy. We find that these satellite bands are resonantly enhanced at the same photon energy as the shape resonance of the main line. This observation contradicts the predictions based on the shake-up model, and suggests a dominant role of the final state correlations arising from the interaction between a primary photoelectron and a valence electron.