O. Travnikova

Angle-resolved electron spectroscopy of the resonant Auger decay in xenon with meV energy resolution

The angle-resolved resonant Auger spectrum of Xe is investigated with a record high meV energy resolution in the kinetic energy region of 34.45-39.20 eV at hv = 65.110 eV, corresponding to the resonant excitation of the Auger Xe* 4d(5/2)(-1)6p state. New lines have been observed and assigned in the spectra. The results of previous measurements concerning energies, intensities and angular distribution asymmetry parameters have been refined, complemented and, for some of the lines, corrected.

Vibrational scattering anisotropy in O2 -- dynamics beyond the Born–Oppenheimer approximation

Born–Oppenheimer and Franck–Condon approximations are two major concepts in the interpretation of electronic excitations and modeling of spectroscopic data in the gas and condensed phases. We r ...

Intramolecular photoelectron diffraction in the gas phase

We report unambiguous experimental and theoretical evidence of intramolecular photoelectron diffraction in the collective vibrational excitation that accompanies high-energy photoionization of gas-phase CF4, BF3, and CH4 from the 1s orbital of the central atom. We show that the ratios between vibrationally resolved photoionization cross sections (v-ratios) exhibit pronounced oscillations as a function of photon energy, which is the fingerprint of electron diffraction by the surrounding atomic centers. This interpretation is supported by the excellent agreement between first-principles static-exchange and time-dependent density functional theory calculations and high resolution measurements, as well as by qualitative agreement at high energies with a model in which atomic displacements are treated to first order of perturbation theory. The latter model allows us to rationalize the results for all the v-ratios in terms of a generalized v-ratio, which contains information on the structure of the above three molecules and the corresponding molecular cations. A fit of the measured v-ratios to a simple formula based on this model suggests that the method could be used to obtain structural information of both neutral and ionic molecular species.

Site-selective photoemission from delocalized valence shells induced by molecular rotation

Due to the generally delocalized nature of molecular valence orbitals, valence-shell spectroscopies do not usually allow to specifically target a selected atom in a molecule. However, in X-ray electron spectroscopy, the photoelectron momentum is large and the recoil angular momentum transferred to the molecule is larger when the photoelectron is ejected from a light atom compared with a heavy one. This confers an extreme sensitivity of the rotational excitation to the ionization site. Here we show that, indeed, the use of high-energy photons to photoionize valence-shell electrons of hydrogen chloride offers an unexpected way to decrypt the atomic composition of the molecular orbitals due to the rotational dependence of the photoionization profiles. The analysis of the site-specific rotational envelopes allows us to disentangle the effects of the two main mechanisms of rotational excitation, based on angular momentum exchange between the molecule and either the incoming photon or the emitted electron.

Detailed theoretical and experimental description of normal Auger decay in O2

The normal Auger electron spectrum of the O-2 molecule is assigned in detail on the basis of ab initio valence configuration interaction (CI) wavefunctions. Potential energy curves of the ground state, the core-ionized states and the doubly charged final states are calculated and Auger decay rates are obtained with the one-centre approximation. Using the lifetime vibrational interference method, band shapes are obtained for all contributions to the Auger spectrum. The calculated Auger electron spectrum allows us to identify all features observed experimentally. Significant differences to previous assignments are reported. A quantitative simulation of the spectrum is given on the basis of a curve-fitting procedure, in which the energetic positions and intensities of the theoretical bands were optimized. Besides providing a basis for a refined analysis of the spectrum, the fit allows us to assess the accuracy of the calculation. As expected for this level of theory, the absolute accuracy of the valence CI energies is found to be about 0.3 eV. The inherent error of the one-centre transition rates is less than 5% of the most intense transition in the spectrum. The frequently questioned one-centre Auger transition rates are shown to be rather appropriate if applied with reasonable wavefunctions and if the vibrational band structure of the molecular spectrum is properly taken into account. (Less)

Study of the dissociation of nitrous oxide following resonant excitation of the nitrogen and oxygen K-shells.

A photochemistry study on nitrous oxide making use of site-selective excitation of terminal nitrogen, central nitrogen, and oxygen 1s-->3pi excitations is presented. The resonant Auger decay which takes place following excitation can lead to dissociation of the N2O+ ion. To elucidate the nuclear dynamics, energy-resolved Auger electrons were detected in coincidence with the ionic dissociation products, and a strong dependence of the fragmentation pathways on the core-hole site was observed in the binding energy region of the first satellite states. A description based on the molecular orbitals as well as the correlation between the thermodynamical thresholds of ion formation and the first electronic states of N2O+ has been used to qualitatively explain the observed fragmentation patterns.

A High-resolution Study of Resonant Auger Decay Processes in N2O After Core Electron Excitation from Terminal Nitrogen, Central Nitrogen and Oxygen Atoms to the 3π LUMO

Decay spectra of N2O following excitation to the N terminal (Nt) → π*, N central (Nc) → π* and O is → π* intermediate states are reported. The final states reached after participator decay show res ...

Hard-X-Ray-Induced Multistep Ultrafast Dissociation.

Creation of deep core holes with very short (τ≤1  fs) lifetimes triggers a chain of relaxation events leading to extensive nuclear dynamics on a few-femtosecond time scale. Here we demonstrate a general multistep ultrafast dissociation on an example of HCl following Cl 1s→σ^{*} excitation. Intermediate states with one or multiple holes in the shallower core electron shells are generated in the course of the decay cascades. The repulsive character and large gradients of the potential energy surfaces of these intermediates enable ultrafast fragmentation after the absorption of a hard x-ray photon.

Vibrationally resolved C 1s photoionization cross section of CF4

The differential photoionization cross section ratio (? = 1)/(? = 0) for the symmetric stretching mode in the C 1s photoionization of CF4 was studied both theoretically and experimentally. We observed this ratio to differ from the Franck?Condon ratio and to be strongly dependent on the photon energy, even far from the photoionization threshold. The density-functional theory computations show that the ratio is significantly modulated by the diffraction of the photoelectrons by the neighbouring atoms at high photon energies. At lower energies, the interpretation of the first very strong maximum observed about 60?eV above the photoionization threshold required detailed calculations of the absolute partial cross sections, which revealed that the absolute cross section has two maxima at lower energies, which turn into one maximum in the cross section ratio because the maxima appear at slightly different energies in ? = 1 and ? = 0 cross sections. These two strong, low-energy continuum resonances originate from the trapping of the continuum wavefunction in the molecular potential of the surrounding fluorine atoms and from the outgoing electron scattering by them.

Vibrationally Resolved B 1s Photoionization Cross Section of BF3.

Photoelectron diffraction is a well-established technique for structural characterization of solids, based on the interference of the native photoelectron wave with those scattered from the neighboring atoms. For isolated systems in the gas phase similar studies suffer from orders of magnitude lower signals due to the very small sample density. Here we present a detailed study of the vibrationally resolved B 1s photoionization cross section of BF3 molecule. A combination of high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and of state-of-the-art static-exchange and time-dependent DFT calculations shows the evolution of the photon energy dependence of the cross section from a complete trapping of the photoelectron wave (low energies) to oscillations due to photoelectron diffraction phenomena. The diffraction pattern allows one to access structural information both for the ground neutral state of the molecule and for the core-ionized cation. Due to a significant change in geometry between the ground and the B 1s(-1) core-ionized state in the BF3 molecule, several vibrational final states of the cation are populated, allowing investigation of eight different relative vibrationally resolved photoionization cross sections. Effects due to recoil induced by the photoelectron emission are also discussed.