Mode-Specific Autodetachment Dynamics of an Excited Non-valence Quadrupole-Bound State

The autodetachment dynamics of vibrational Feshbach resonances of the quadrupole-bound state (QBS) for the first time has been investigated in real time for the first excited state of the 4-cyanophenoxide (4-CP) anion. Individual vibrational resonances of the cryogenically cooled 4-CP QBS have been unambiguously identified, and their autodetachment rates state-specifically measured using the picosecond time-resolved pump-probe technique employing the photoelectron velocity-map imaging method. The autodetachment lifetime (τ) is found to be strongly dependent on mode, giving τ values of ∼56, ∼27, and ≤2.8 ps for the 12'¹ (E_vib = 406 cm^-1), 12'² (E_vib = 806 cm^-1), and 21'¹ (E_vib = 220 cm^-1) modes, respectively. The striking mode-specific behavior of the QBS lifetime has been invoked by the physical model in which the loosely bound electron falls off by the dynamic wobbling of the three-dimensional quadrupole moment ellipsoid associated with the corresponding vibrational motion in the autodetachment process.