Dissociative electron attachment to carbon tetrachloride probed by velocity map imaging.

Bond-breaking in CCl4via dissociative electron attachment (DEA) has been studied using a velocity map imaging (VMI) spectrometer. A number of effects related to the dissociation dynamics have been revealed. The near-zero eV s-wave electron attachment, which leads to the production of Cl- anions, is accompanied by a very efficient intramolecular vibrational redistribution. This is manifested by a small fraction of the excess energy being released in the form of the fragments' translation energy. A similar effect is observed for higher-lying electronic resonances with one exception: the resonance centered around 6.2 eV leads to the production of fast Cl2- fragments and their angular distribution is forward peaking. This behavior could not be explained with a single-electronic-state model in the axial recoil approximation and is most probably caused by bending dynamics initiated by a Jahn-Teller distortion of the transient anion. The CCl2- fragment has a reverse backward-peaking angular distribution, suggesting the presence of a long-distance electron hopping mechanism between the fragments.

Spectroscopic signatures of states in the continuum characterized by a joint experimental and theoretical study of pyrrole.

We report a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of electron-molecule interactions using pyrrole as a model system. Experimental two-dimensional electron energy loss spectra (EELS) encode information about the vibrational states of the molecule as well as the position and structure of electronic resonances. The calculations using complex-valued extensions of equation-of-motion coupled-cluster theory (based on non-Hermitian quantum mechanics) facilitate the assignment of all major EELS features. We confirm the two previously described π resonances at about 2.5 and 3.5 eV (the calculations place these two states at 2.92 and 3.53 eV vertically and 2.63 and 3.27 eV adiabatically). The calculations also predict a low-lying resonance at 0.46 eV, which has a mixed character-of a dipole-bound state and σ* type. This resonance becomes stabilized at one quanta of the NH excitation, giving rise to the sharp feature at 0.9 eV in the corresponding EELS. Calculations of Franck-Condon factors explain the observed variations in the vibrational excitation patterns. The ability of theory to describe EELS provides a concrete illustration of the utility of non-Hermitian quantum chemistry, which extends such important concepts as potential energy surfaces and molecular orbitals to states embedded in the continuum.

Resonances in nitrobenzene probed by the electron attachment to neutral and by the photodetachment from anion.

We probe resonances (transient anions) in nitrobenzene with the focus on the electron emission from these. Experimentally, we populate resonances in two ways: either by the impact of free electrons on the neutral molecule or by the photoexcitation of the bound molecular anion. These two excitation means lead to transient anions in different initial geometries. In both cases, the anions decay by electron emission and we record the electron spectra. Several types of emission are recognized, differing by the way in which the resulting molecule is vibrationally excited. In the excitation of specific vibrational modes, distinctly different modes are visible in electron collision and photodetachment experiments. The unspecific vibrational excitation, which leads to the emission of thermal electrons following the internal vibrational redistribution, shows similar features in both experiments. A model for the thermal emission based on a detailed balance principle agrees with the experimental findings very well. Finally, a similar behavior in the two experiments is also observed for a third type of electron emission, the vibrational autodetachment, which yields electrons with constant final energies over a broad range of excitation energies. The entrance channels for the vibrational autodetachment are examined in detail, and they point to a new mechanism involving a reverse valence to non-valence internal conversion.

Vibronic Coupling through the Continuum in the e+CO_{2} System.

We report two-dimensional electron energy-loss spectra of CO_{2}. The high-resolution experiment reveals a counterintuitive fine structure at energy losses where CO_{2} states form a vibrational pseudocontinuum. Guided by the symmetry of the system, we constructed a four-dimensional nonlocal model for the vibronic dynamics involving two shape resonances (forming a Renner-Teller Π_{u} doublet at the equilibrium geometry) coupled to a virtual Σ_{g}^{+} state. The model elucidates the extremely non-Born-Oppenheimer dynamics of the coupled nuclear motion and explains the origin of the observed structures. It is a prototype of the vibronic coupling of metastable states in continuum.

Resonant states in cyanogen NCCN.

In a combined experimental and theoretical study we probe the transient anion states (resonances) in cyanogen. Experimentally, we utilize electron energy loss spectroscopy which reveals the resonance positions by monitoring the excitation functions for vibrationally inelastic electron scattering. Four resonances are visible in the spectra, centered around 0.36 eV, 4.1, 5.3 and 7.3 eV. Theoretically, we explore the resonant states by using the regularized analytical continuation method. A very good agreement with the experiment is obtained for low-lying resonances, however, the computational method becomes unstable for higher-lying states. The lowest shape resonance (2Πu) is independently explored by the complex adsorbing potential method. In the experiment, this resonance is manifested by a pronounced boomerang structure. We show that the naive picture of viewing NCCN as a pseudodihalogen and focusing only on the CC stretch is invalid.

Mode-Specific Vibrational Autodetachment Following Excitation of Electronic Resonances by Electrons and Photons.

Electronic resonances commonly decay via internal conversion to vibrationally hot anions and subsequent statistical electron emission. We observed vibrational structure in such an emission from the nitrobenzene anion, in both the 2D electron energy loss and 2D photoelectron spectroscopy of the neutral and anion, respectively. The emission peaks could be correlated with calculated nonadiabatic coupling elements for vibrational modes to the electronic continuum from a nonvalence dipole-bound state. This autodetachment mechanism via a dipole-bound state is likely to be a common feature in both electron and photoelectron spectroscopies.

A new time of flight mass spectrometer for absolute dissociative electron attachment cross-section measurements in gas phase.

A new time of flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) has been developed to study the absolute dissociative electron attachment (DEA) cross section using a relative flow technique of a wide variety of molecules in gas phase, ranging from simple diatomic to complex biomolecules. Unlike the Wiley-McLaren type TOFMS, here the total ion collection condition has been achieved without compromising the mass resolution by introducing a field free drift region after the lensing arrangement. The field free interaction region is provided for low energy electron molecule collision studies. The spectrometer can be used to study a wide range of masses (H- ion to few hundreds atomic mass unit). The mass resolution capability of the spectrometer has been checked experimentally by measuring the mass spectra of fragment anions arising from DEA to methanol. Overall performance of the spectrometer has been tested by measuring the absolute DEA cross section of the ground state SO2 molecule, and the results are satisfactory.

Dipolar dissociation dynamics in electron collisions with carbon monoxide.

Dipolar dissociation processes in the electron collisions with carbon monoxide have been studied using time of flight (TOF) mass spectroscopy in combination with the highly differential velocity slice imaging (VSI) technique. By probing ion-pair states, both positive and/or negative ions may be detected. The ion yield curve of negative ions provides the threshold energy for the ion-pair production. On the other hand, the kinetic energy distributions and angular distributions of the fragment anion provide detailed dynamics of the dipolar dissociation process. Two ion-pair states have been identified based on angular distribution measurements using the VSI technique.

Fragmentation dynamics in dissociative electron attachment to CO probed by velocity slice imaging.

Complete dissociation dynamics in electron attachment to carbon monoxide (CO) have been studied using the newly developed velocity slice imaging (VSI) technique. Both kinetic energy and angular distributions of O(-) ions formed by dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to CO molecules have been measured for 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, and 11.5 eV incident electron energies around the resonance. Detailed observations conclusively show that two separate DEA reactions lead to the formation of O(-) ions in the ground (2)P state along with the neutral C atoms in the ground (3)P state and the first excited (1)D state, respectively. Within the axial recoil approximation and involving four partial waves, our angular distribution results clearly indicate that the two reactions leading to O(-) formation proceed through the specific resonant state(s). For the first process, more than one intermediate state is involved. On the other hand, for the second process, only one state is involved. The observed forward-backward asymmetry is explained in terms of the interference between the different partial waves that are involved in the processes.