Isotope and temperature effects in liquid water probed by x-ray absorption and resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy

High-resolution x-ray absorption and emission spectra of liquid water exhibit a strong isotope effect. Further, the emission spectra show a splitting of the 1b1 emission line, a weak temperature effect, and a pronounced excitation-energy dependence. They can be described as a superposition of two independent contributions. By comparing with gas phase, ice, and NaOH/NaOD, we propose that the two components are governed by the initial state hydrogen bonding configuration and ultrafast dissociation on the time scale of the O 1s core hole decay.