Experimental evidence of interatomic coulombic decay from the auger final states in argon dimers

Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) from an Auger-final dicationic state is observed in the Ar dimer. A 2p inner-shell vacancy created by photoionization is replaced with 3s and 3p vacancies via intra-atomic Auger decay. The Auger-final dicationic state is subject to ICD in which one of the 3p electrons in the same Ar atom fills the 3s vacancy while one of the 3p electrons from the neighboring Ar atom is emitted as an ICD electron. This ICD process is unambiguously identified by electron-ion-ion coincidence spectroscopy in which the kinetic energy of the ICD electron and the kinetic energy release between Ar+ and Ar2+ are measured in coincidence.     

Intermolecular coulomb decay at weakly coupled heterogeneous interfaces

Surface ejection of H(+)(H(2)O)(n=1-8) from low energy electron irradiated water clusters adsorbed on graphite and graphite with overlayers of Ar, Kr or Xe results from intermolecular Coulomb decay (ICD) at the mixed interface. Inner valence holes in water (2a(1)(-1)), Ar (3s(-1)), Kr (4s(-1)), and Xe (5s(-1)) correlate with the cluster appearance thresholds and initiate ICD. Proton transfer occurs during or immediately after ICD and the resultant Coulomb explosion leads to H(+)(H(2)O)(n=1-8) desorption with kinetic energies that vary with initiating state, final state, and interatomic or molecular distances.     

Experimental observation of interatomic coulombic decay in neon dimers

Recently Cederbaum et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 4778 (1997)]] predicted a new decay channel of excited atoms and molecules termed interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD). In ICD the deexcitation energy is transferred via virtual photon exchange to a neighboring atom, which releases it by electron emission. We report on an experimental observation of ICD in 2s ionized neon dimers. The process is unambiguously identified by detecting the energy of two Ne1+ fragments and the ICD electron in coincidence, yielding a clean, background free experimental spectral distribution of the ICD electrons.     

Autoionization mediated by electron transfer

Electron-electron coincidence spectra of Ar-Kr clusters after photoionization have been measured. An electron with the kinetic energy range from 0 to approximately 1 eV is found in coincidence with the Ar 3s cluster photoelectron. The low kinetic energy electron can be attributed to an Ar + Kr+ + Kr+ final state which forms after electron transfer mediated decay. This autoionization mechanism results from a concerted transition involving three different atoms in a van der Waals cluster; it was predicted theoretically, but hitherto not observed.     

Properties of resonant interatomic Coulombic decay in Ne dimers

Properties of the interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) process in Ne dimers have been obtained by tracking the formation of energetic Ne+ ions. The double photoionization cross section, deduced from the Ne+/Ne+ coincidence signal, is dominated by the ICD process and presents a threshold 280 meV below the atomic Ne+2s(-1) threshold. Rydberg excitation of a 2s electron in the dimer creates molecular Rydberg states whose Sigma and Pi symmetries have been resolved. These excited states decay by a resonant ICD process releasing an energetic Ne+ ion and a neutral excited Ne* fragment. Subsequent autoionization of the Ne* fragment explains a double photoionization threshold below the dimer 2s ionization threshold.     

Experimental separation of virtual photon exchange and electron transfer in interatomic coulombic decay of neon dimers

We investigate the interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) of neon dimers following photoionization with simultaneous excitation of the ionized atom (shakeup) in a multiparticle coincidence experiment. We find that, depending on the parity of the excited state, which determines whether ICD takes place via virtual dipole photon emission or overlap of the wave functions, the decay happens at different internuclear distances, illustrating that nuclear dynamics heavily influence the electronic decay in the neon dimer.     

Exploring interatomic Coulombic decay by free electron lasers

To exploit the high intensity of laser radiation, we propose to select frequencies at which single-photon absorption is of too low energy and two or more photons are needed to produce states of an atom that can undergo interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) with its neighbors. For Ne(2) it is explicitly demonstrated that the proposed multiphoton absorption scheme is much more efficient than schemes used until now, which rely on single-photon absorption. Extensive calculations on Ne(2) show how the low-energy ICD electrons and Ne(+) pairs are produced for different laser intensities and pulse durations. At higher intensities the production of Ne(+) pairs by successive ionization of the two atoms becomes competitive and the respective emitted electrons interfere with the ICD electrons. It is also shown that a measurement after a time delay can be used to determine the contribution of ICD even at high laser intensity.     

Double core hole creation and subsequent Auger decay in NH3 and CH4 molecules

Energies of the hollow molecules CH(4)(2+) and NH(3)(2+) with double vacancies in the 1s shells have been measured using an efficient coincidence technique combined with synchrotron radiation. The energies of these states have been determined accurately by high level electronic structure calculations and can be well understood on the basis of a simple theoretical model. Their major decay pathway, successive Auger emissions, leads first to a new form of triply charged ion with a core hole and two valence vacancies; experimental evidence for such a state is presented with its theoretical interpretation. Preedge 2-hole-1-particle (2h-1p) states at energies below the double core-hole states are located in the same experiments and their decay pathways are also identified.     

Dynamics and post-collision interaction effects in two electron decay from the Xenon 4d hole

Two Auger electrons, one very slow, one fast, have been detected in coincidence following near threshold 4d photoionization of the Xe atom. The distribution in the energy the two electrons share has been measured for the first time revealing the presence of post-collision interaction effects that provide unique information on the decay dynamics of the 4d hole. Analysis of the distorted line shapes indicates that the dominant process is decay of Xe+(4d(-1)) to Xe3+ through cascade emission of a zero kinetic energy Auger electron followed by a fast Auger electron. The widths of the intermediate Xe2+* states are estimated to be about 60 meV.     

Investigations of positronium formation and destruction using 3gamma/2gammaannihilation-ratio measurements

Positronium (Ps) produced by 4 to 40 eV positrons colliding with Ne, Ar, Kr, CO2, and O2 is investigated by measuring the ratio of signals of two gamma rays in coincidence resulting from (a) three gamma annihilation of ortho-Ps and (b) two annihilation gamma rays due to para-Ps decay and destruction of ortho-Ps at an aluminum scattering cell surface. These ratios provide evidence that relates to the kinetic energy dependence of ortho-Ps interactions with an aluminum surface, the Ps formation potential at this surface, and the fact that Ps is being formed with inner orbital electrons for CO2 and O2.     

High resolution resonant particle decay spectroscopy

Optimum energy resolution is being pursued in the study of the alpha particle decay spectroscopy of selected 1p-shell nuclei. Counter telescopes with two dimensional position sensitivity are used in coincidence to identify three and four-body final state reactions which proceed by sequential binary decay. Heavy ion beams at bombarding energies of 3 to 8 MeV/u from the Florida State Tandem/LINAC Accelerator Laboratory are used to initiate the reactions. Measured position and energy resolutions of the order of 1/2 % are used to provide excited state resolutions of ≈10 keV within a few hundred keV of the alpha-particle decay thresholds.     

Three-electron interatomic Coulombic decay from the inner-valence double-vacancy states in NeAr

We have unambiguously identified interatomic Coulombic decay in NeAr from the inner-valence double-vacancy state Ne-Ar(2+)(3s(-2)) to outer-valence triple-vacancy states Ne(+)(2p(-1))-Ar(2+)(3p(-2)) by momentum-resolved electron-ion multicoincidence. This is the first observation of interatomic Coulombic decay where three electrons (3e) participate. The results suggest that this 3e interatomic Coulombic decay is significantly faster than other competing processes like fluorescence decay and charge transfer via curve crossing.     

Radiative relaxation in 2p-excited argon clusters

The emission of ultraviolet fluorescence radiation from variable size argon clusters is investigated with high spectral resolution in the Ar 2p-excitation regime. The fluorescence excitation spectra reveal strong fluorescence intensity in the Ar 2p-continuum, but no evidence for the occurrence of discrete low-lying core-exciton states in the near-edge regime. This finding is different from the absorption and photoionization cross section of argon clusters and the solid. The dispersed fluorescence shows a broad molecular band centered near 280 nm. The present work indicates that double and triple ionization via the LMM-Auger decay are required to initiate the fluorescence processes in the Ar 2p-continuum. The present results are consistent with the formation of singly charged, excited moieties within the clusters, which are assigned as sources of the radiative emission in the 280 nm regime. A fast energy transfer process (interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD)), which has been proposed by recent theoretical work, is assigned to be primarily the origin of these singly charged, excited cations besides intra-cluster electron impact ionization by the Auger electrons. Our findings give first possible experimental evidence for ICD in the core level regime.     

Effect of E1 decay in the population of superdeformed structures

Spectra of the yrast and excited superdeformed bands, forming the E2 quasi-continuum, are measured with the EUROBALL array for the nucleus ¹⁴³Eu, in coincidence with high-energy γ-rays (E_γ>3 MeV). It is found that the intensity population of the superdeformed states is enhanced by a factor of ≈1.6 when a coincidence with a γ-ray with energy >6 MeV is required, in reasonable agreement with the increase of the line shape of the Giant Dipole Resonance built on a superdeformed configuration. This result shows that when an high energy E1 γ-ray is involved in the decay it is more likely connected with a SD rather than a ND nucleus. In addition, the analysis of the rotational quasi-continuum suggests the presence of a superdeformed component. The data are also compared and found consistent with simulation calculations of the relative intensities of the SD states, including the E1 decay of superdeformed nature.     

The decay scheme of Ag

The γ-radiations following the decay of ¹¹²Ag have been studied with Ge(Li) detectors. The ¹¹²Ag half-life has been measured as 3.16±0.02 h; twenty gamma radiations ranging in energy from 606.7 keV to 2829.6 keV have been observed.

Gamma-gamma coincidence measurements have been performed with Ge(Li) and NaI(Tl) detectors. A decay scheme consistent with the present data is proposed.     

Spectroscopy and decay properties of charmonium

The mass spectra of charmonium are investigated using a Coulomb plus linear(Cornell)potential.Gaussian wave functions in position space as well as in momentum space are employed to calculate the expectation values of potential and kinetic energy respectively.Various experimental states(X(4660)(5~3S_1),X(3872)(2~3P_1),X(3900)(2~1P_1),X(3915)(2~3P_0)and X(4274)(3~3P_1)etc.)are assigned as charmonium states.We also study the Regge trajectories,pseudoscalar and vector decay constants,electric and magnetic dipole transition rates,and annihilation decay widths for charmonium states.     

The decay of 23.0 min Rb to levels in Kr

The radioactive decay of ⁷⁹Rb(23.0±0.5 min) has been studied with the aid of semiconductor radiation detectors. Both singles and coincidence spectra have been recorded. The decay energy: 3520±45 keV was determined by measuring the endpoint of the positon spectrum in coincidence with prominent γ-rays. A decay scheme is proposed incorporating most of the measured γ-rays. The following energies in keV and parities of levels are assigned: ground state ( ), , , , , 383.71±0.18, 532.82±0.33, 688.21±0.09, , 934.0±1.4, 1089.4±0.4, 1474.7±0.3. The spin and parity of the ⁷⁹Rb ground state is most probably .     

Acoustic phonon impact on the inter-Coulombic decay process in charged quantum dot pairs

ABSTRACT

Recently, highly accurate multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree electron dynamics calculations demonstrated the efficient long-range energy transfer inter-Coulombic decay (ICD) process to happen in charged semiconductor quantum dot (QD) pairs. ICD is initiated by intraband photoexcitation of one of the QDs and leads to electron emission from the other within a duration of about 150 ps. On the same time scale electronically excited states are reported to relax due to the coupling of electrons to acoustic phonons. Likewise, phonons promote ionisation. Here, the QDs' acoustic breathing mode is implemented in a frozen-phonon approach. A detailed comparison of the phonon effects on electron relaxation and emission as well as on the full ICD process is presented, which supports the previous empirical finding of ICD being the dominant decay channel in paired QDs. In addition the relative importance of phonon–phonon, phonon–electron and electron–electron interaction is analysed.     

Experimental evidence for interatomic coulombic decay in Ne clusters

Electron spectra of photoexcited Ne clusters are shown to display a signal at low kinetic energies that is neither present in the Ne monomer nor at photon energies below the inner-valence 2s threshold. These findings are strong evidence for the existence of interatomic Coulombic decays (ICD), a mechanism that was recently predicted theoretically [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 4778 (1997)]]. In ICD, an inner-valence hole state in a weakly bonded system can undergo ultrafast relaxation due to energy transfer to a neighboring atom, followed by electron emission from this neighboring site.     

Asymmetry in multiple-electron capture revealed by radiative charge transfer in Ar dimers

We measured kinetic energies of the fragment ions of argon dimers multiply ionized by low-energy Ar(9+) collisions. For (Ar2)(4+) dissociation, the asymmetric channel (Ar(3+) + Ar(+)) yield is found unexpectedly higher than the symmetric channel (Ar(2+) + Ar(2+)) yield in contrast with previous observation for covalent molecules or clusters. For the dissociation channel (Ar2)(2+)→Ar(+) + Ar(+), two well-separated peaks were observed, clearly evidencing that the direct Coulombic dissociation and the radiative charge transfer followed by ionic dissociation alternatively occur for the dicationic dimers. The respective intensity of these two peaks provides a direct mean to unravel the respective proportion of one-site and two-site double-electron capture, which are found equal for this collision system.