Virtual photon exchange vs electron transfer in interparticle Coulombic electron capture.

We have investigated Interparticle Coulombic Electron Capture (ICEC) using an ab initio approach for two systems, H+ + H2O and H + H2O+. In this work, we have determined the contribution of virtual photon exchange and electron transfer to the total ICEC cross section as a function of the distance between the charged and neutral particles. Furthermore, we have shown that the relative orientation of the electron acceptor and neighbor systems affects the magnitude of the ICEC cross sections by at least two orders at relatively small distances. This geometry dependence, present even for distances as large as 10 a0, is due to the electron transfer contribution. The relative magnitude of each contribution to ICEC seems to depend on the system studied. By replacing the projectile electron with a positron, we have confirmed that electron transfer also takes place in positron collisions and that the charge of the projectile has a noticeable effect on the process, particularly at low scattering energies.

Attosecond pump-attosecond probe spectroscopy of Auger decay.

Attosecond pump-attosecond probe spectroscopy is becoming possible due the development of sub-femtosecond free electron laser (FEL) pulses as well as intense high-order harmonic generation-based attosecond sources. Here we investigate theoretically whether these developments can provide access to direct time-resolved measurement of Auger decay through detection of the total yield of an ionic decay product, in analogy to the photodissociation product detection in femtochemistry. We show that the ion yield based measurement is generally possible and in the case of the inner-valence hole decay can be background-free. Extensive first principles calculations are used to optimise the probe photon energies for a variety of prototypical systems.

Site- and energy-selective slow-electron production through intermolecular Coulombic decay.

Irradiation of matter with light tends to electronically excite atoms and molecules, with subsequent relaxation processes determining where the photon energy is ultimately deposited and electrons and ions produced. In weakly bound systems, intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) enables very efficient relaxation of electronic excitation through transfer of the excess energy to neighbouring atoms or molecules that then lose an electron and become ionized. Here we propose that the emission site and energy of the electrons released during this process can be controlled by coupling the ICD to a resonant core excitation. We illustrate this concept with ab initio many-body calculations on the argon-krypton model system, where resonant photoabsorption produces an initial or 'parent' excitation of the argon atom, which then triggers a resonant-Auger-ICD cascade that ends with the emission of a slow electron from the krypton atom. Our calculations show that the energy of the emitted electrons depends sensitively on the initial excited state of the argon atom. The incident energy can thus be adjusted both to produce the initial excitation in a chosen atom and to realize an excitation that will result in the emission of ICD electrons with desired energies. These properties of the decay cascade might have consequences for fundamental and applied radiation biology and could be of interest in the development of new spectroscopic techniques.

Virtual Photon Approximation for Three-Body Interatomic Coulombic Decay.

Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) is a mechanism that allows microscopic objects to rapidly exchange energy. When the two objects are distant, the energy transfer between the donor and acceptor species takes place via the exchange of a virtual photon. On the contrary, recent ab initio calculations have revealed that the presence of a third passive species can significantly enhance the ICD rate at short distances due to the effects of electronic wave function overlap and charge transfer states [Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 083403 (2017)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.119.083403]. Here, we develop a virtual photon description of three-body ICD, allowing us to investigate retardation and geometrical effects which are out of reach for current ab initio techniques. We show that a passive atom can have a significant influence on the rate of the ICD process at fairly large interatomic distances, due to the scattering of virtual photons off the mediator. Moreover, we demonstrate that in the retarded regime ICD can be substantially enhanced or suppressed depending on the position of the ICD-inactive object, even if the latter is far from both donor and acceptor species.

Interatomic Coulombic Decay Mediated by Ultrafast Superexchange Energy Transfer.

Inner-valence ionized states of atoms and molecules live shorter if these species are embedded in an environment due to the possibility for ultrafast deexcitation known as interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD). In this Letter we show that the lifetime of these ICD active states decreases further when a bridge atom is in proximity to the two interacting monomers. This novel mechanism, termed superexchange ICD, is an electronic correlation effect driven by the efficient energy transfer via virtual states of the bridge atom. The superexchange ICD is discussed in detail on the example of the NeHeNe trimer. We demonstrate that the decay width of the Ne^{+}(2s^{-1}) ^{2}Σ_{g}^{+} resonance increases 6 times in the presence of the He atom at a distance of 4 Å between the two Ne atoms. Using a simple model, we provide a qualitative explanation of the superexchange ICD and we derive analytical expressions for the dependence of the decay width on the distance between the neon atoms.

On the computations of interatomic Coulombic decay widths with R-matrix method.

Interatomic Coulombic Decay (ICD) is a general mechanism in which an excited atom can transfer its excess energy to a neighbor which is thus ionized. ICD belongs to the family of Feshbach resonance processes, and, as such, states undergoing ICD are characterized by their energy width. In this work, we investigate the computations of ICD widths using the R-matrix method as implemented in the UKRmol package. Helium dimer is used here as a benchmark system. The results are compared with those obtained with the well established Fano-Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction method. It is shown that the R-matrix method in its present implementation provides accurate total and partial widths if the kinetic energy of the ICD electron is lower than 10 eV. Advantages and limitations of the R-matrix method on the computations of ICD widths are discussed.

Ultrafast Molecular Three-Electron Auger Decay.

Three-electron Auger decay is an exotic and elusive process, in which two outer-shell electrons simultaneously refill an inner-shell double vacancy with emission of a single Auger electron. Such transitions are forbidden by the many-electron selection rules, normally making their decay lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the few-femtosecond lifetimes of normal (two-electron) Auger decay. Here we present theoretical predictions and direct experimental evidence for a few-femtosecond three-electron Auger decay of a double inner-valence-hole state in CH_{3}F. Our analysis shows that in contrast to double core holes, double inner-valence vacancies in molecules can decay exclusively by this ultrafast three-electron Auger process, and we predict that this phenomenon occurs widely.

Interatomic Coulombic decay widths of helium trimer: A diatomics-in-molecules approach.

We report a new method to compute the Interatomic Coulombic Decay (ICD) widths for large clusters which relies on the combination of the projection-operator formalism of scattering theory and the diatomics-in-molecules approach. The total and partial ICD widths of a cluster are computed from the energies and coupling matrix elements of the atomic and diatomic fragments of the system. The method is applied to the helium trimer and the results are compared to fully ab initio widths. A good agreement between the two sets of data is shown. Limitations of the present method are also discussed.

Interatomic Coulombic decay widths of helium trimer: Ab initio calculations.

We report on an extensive study of interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) widths in helium trimer computed using a fully ab initio method based on the Fano theory of resonances. Algebraic diagrammatic construction for one-particle Green's function is utilized for the solution of the many-electron problem. An advanced and universal approach to partitioning of the configuration space into discrete states and continuum subspaces is described and employed. Total decay widths are presented for all ICD-active states of the trimer characterized by one-site ionization and additional excitation of an electron into the second shell. Selected partial decay widths are analyzed in detail, showing how three-body effects can qualitatively change the character of certain relaxation transitions. Previously unreported type of three-electron decay processes is identified in one class of the metastable states.

Relativistic decay widths of autoionization processes: the relativistic FanoADC-Stieltjes method.

Electronic decay processes of ionized systems are, for example, the Auger decay or the Interatomic/ Intermolecular Coulombic Decay. In both processes, an energetically low lying vacancy is filled by an electron of an energetically higher lying orbital and a secondary electron is instantaneously emitted to the continuum. Whether or not such a process occurs depends both on the energetic accessibility and the corresponding lifetime compared to the lifetime of competing decay mechanisms. We present a realization of the non-relativistically established FanoADC-Stieltjes method for the description of autoionization decay widths including relativistic effects. This procedure, being based on the Algebraic Diagrammatic Construction (ADC), was adapted to the relativistic framework and implemented into the relativistic quantum chemistry program package Dirac. It is, in contrast to other existing relativistic atomic codes, not limited to the description of autoionization lifetimes in spherically symmetric systems, but is instead also applicable to molecules and clusters. We employ this method to the Auger processes following the Kr3d(-1), Xe4d(-1), and Rn5d(-1) ionization. Based on the results, we show a pronounced influence of mainly scalar-relativistic effects on the decay widths of autoionization processes.

Electronic quantum coherence in glycine molecules probed with ultrashort x-ray pulses in real time.

Here, we use x-rays to create and probe quantum coherence in the photoionized amino acid glycine. The outgoing photoelectron leaves behind the cation in a coherent superposition of quantum mechanical eigenstates. Delayed x-ray pulses track the induced coherence through resonant x-ray absorption that induces Auger decay and by photoelectron emission from sequential double photoionization. Sinusoidal temporal modulation of the detected signal at early times (0 to 25 fs) is observed in both measurements. Advanced ab initio many-electron simulations allow us to explain the first 25 fs of the detected coherent quantum evolution in terms of the electronic coherence. In the kinematically complete x-ray absorption measurement, we monitor its dynamics for a period of 175 fs and observe an evolving modulation that may implicate the coupling of electronic to vibronic coherence at longer time scales. Our experiment provides a direct support for the existence of long-lived electronic coherence in photoionized biomolecules.

Charge-induced chemical dynamics in glycine probed with time-resolved Auger electron spectroscopy.

In the present contribution, we use x-rays to monitor charge-induced chemical dynamics in the photoionized amino acid glycine with femtosecond time resolution. The outgoing photoelectron leaves behind the cation in a coherent superposition of quantum mechanical eigenstates. Delayed x-ray pulses track the induced coherence through resonant x-ray absorption that induces Auger decay. Temporal modulation of the Auger electron signal correlated with specific ions is observed, which is governed by the initial electronic coherence and subsequent vibronic coupling to nuclear degrees of freedom. In the time-resolved x-ray absorption measurement, we monitor the time-frequency spectra of the resulting many-body quantum wave packets for a period of 175 fs along different reaction coordinates. Our experiment proves that by measuring specific fragments associated with the glycine dication as a function of the pump-probe delay, one can selectively probe electronic coherences at early times associated with a few distinguishable components of the broad electronic wave packet created initially by the pump pulse in the cation. The corresponding coherent superpositions formed by subsets of electronic eigenstates and evolving along parallel dynamical pathways show different phases and time periods in the range of ( - 0.3 ± 0.1 ) π ≤ ϕ ≤ ( 0.1 ± 0.2 ) π and 18.2 - 1.4 + 1.7 ≤ T ≤ 23.9 - 1.1 + 1.2 fs. Furthermore, for long delays, the data allow us to pinpoint the driving vibrational modes of chemical dynamics mediating charge-induced bond cleavage along different reaction coordinates.

K-shell Auger lifetime variation in doubly ionized Ne and first row hydrides.

We consider 1s Auger decay in doubly (core-core and core-valence) ionized Ne and in the isoelectronic first row element hydrides. We show theoretically that the presence of the spectator inner valence vacancy leads to Auger lifetime variation of up to about a factor of 2, relative to the Auger lifetimes in the singly ionized species. The origin of this effect is traced to spin selection rules. Implications on the modelling of the radiation damage in strong x-ray fields are discussed.

Interatomic electronic decay driven by nuclear motion.

The interatomic electronic decay after inner-valence ionization of a neon atom by a single photon in a neon-helium dimer is investigated. The excited neon atom relaxes via interatomic Coulombic decay and the excess energy is transferred to the helium atom and ionizes it. We show that the decay process is only possible if the dimer's bond stretches up to 6.2 Å, i.e., to more than twice the equilibrium interatomic distance of the neutral dimer. Thus, it is demonstrated that the electronic decay, taking place at such long distances, is driven by the nuclear motion.

Collective interatomic decay of multiple vacancies in clusters.

We predict that inner-shell ionization of more than one atom (or molecule) in a cluster, e.g., by intense free-electron laser radiation, can lead to an interatomic decay process in which the formed vacancy states decay simultaneously, while a neighboring neutral species is ionized. This collective decay phenomenon can be regarded as a transfer of two or more virtual photons from the ionized cluster units to a neutral one. Simulations of collective decay in (4s-1, 4s-1) (Kr+)2Ar show that the two-virtual-photon process can be competitive with the dissociative nuclear dynamics of the doubly ionized cluster. Generality of the collective interatomic decay is discussed.

Ab initio calculation of interatomic decay rates of excited doubly ionized states in clusters.

Recently, a computational technique for ab initio calculation of the interatomic and intermolecular nonradiative decay processes has been developed [V. Averbukh and L. S. Cederbaum, J. Chem. Phys. 123, 204107 (2005)]. It combines the Fano formalism with the Green's function method known as the algebraic diagrammatic construction. The problem of normalization of continuum wave functions stemming from the use of the Gaussian basis sets is solved by using the Stieltjes imaging technique. In the present paper, the methodology is extended in order to describe the interatomic decay of excited doubly ionized states of clusters. The new computational scheme is applied to compute the interatomic decay rates of doubly ionized states formed by Auger relaxation of core vacancies in NeAr and MgNe van der Waals clusters.

Analysis of a measurement scheme for ultrafast hole dynamics by few femtosecond resolution X-ray pump-probe Auger spectroscopy.

Ultrafast hole dynamics created in molecular systems as a result of sudden ionisation is the focus of much attention in the field of attosecond science. Using the molecule glycine we show through ab initio simulations that the dynamics of a hole, arising from ionisation in the inner valence region, evolves with a timescale appropriate to be measured using X-ray pulses from the current generation of SASE free electron lasers. The examined pump-probe scheme uses X-rays with photon energy below the K edge of carbon (275-280 eV) that will ionise from the inner valence region. A second probe X-ray at the same energy can excite an electron from the core to fill the vacancy in the inner-valence region. The dynamics of the inner valence hole can be tracked by measuring the Auger electrons produced by the subsequent refilling of the core hole as a function of pump-probe delay. We consider the feasibility of the experiment and include numerical simulation to support this analysis. We discuss the potential for all X-ray pump-X-ray probe Auger spectroscopy measurements for tracking hole migration.