Ultrafast temporal evolution of interatomic Coulombic decay in NeKr dimers

Area of Science:

• Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Quantum Chemistry
• Chemical Physics

Background:

• Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) is a key process in molecular systems following photoionization.
• Understanding ICD dynamics is crucial for interpreting complex molecular interactions and decay pathways.
• Neon (Ne) and Krypton (Kr) dimers provide a model system for studying charge transfer and relaxation phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) in NeKr dimers after neon 2s-photoionization.
• To probe the temporal evolution and lifetime of the intermediate dimer cation state.
• To visualize nuclear dynamics during the ICD process on ultrafast timescales.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a synchrotron light source for high-resolution photoionization experiments.
• Measuring singly charged ions and photoelectrons in coincidence for detailed event reconstruction.
• Analyzing post-collision interactions between the photoelectron and emitted ICD electron to determine decay dynamics.

Main Results:

• High-resolution coincidence measurements successfully identified the ionic fragments and photoelectron.
• The temporal evolution of the NeKr dimer cation state was probed by analyzing electron-electron interactions.
• The lifetime of the intermediate state was determined to be on the femtosecond timescale.

Conclusions:

• Interatomic Coulombic decay in NeKr dimers can be studied with high temporal resolution.
• The study provides insights into the ultrafast nuclear dynamics accompanying ICD.
• This work demonstrates a method for visualizing molecular state evolution on femtosecond timescales.