Probing molecular environment through photoemission delays
Biswas S, Foerg B, Ortmann L, Schoetz J, Schweinberger W, Zimmermann T, Pi L, Baykusheva D, Masood HA, Liontos I, Kamal AM, Kling NG, Alharbi AF, Alharbi M, Azzeer AM, Hartmann G, Woerner HJ, Landsman AS, Kling MF (2020)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2020
Journal
Book Volume: 16
Pages Range: 778-783
Journal Issue: 7
DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-0887-8
Abstract
Attosecond chronoscopy has revealed small but measurable delays in photoionization, characterized by the ejection of an electron on absorption of a single photon. Ionization-delay measurements in atomic targets provide a wealth of information about the timing of the photoelectric effect, resonances, electron correlations and transport. However, extending this approach to molecules presents challenges, such as identifying the correct ionization channels and the effect of the anisotropic molecular landscape on the measured delays. Here, we measure ionization delays from ethyl iodide around a giant dipole resonance. By using the theoretical value for the iodine atom as a reference, we disentangle the contribution from the functional ethyl group, which is responsible for the characteristic chemical reactivity of a molecule. We find a substantial additional delay caused by the presence of a functional group, which encodes the effect of the molecular potential on the departing electron. Such information is inaccessible to the conventional approach of measuring photoionization cross-sections. The results establish ionization-delay measurements as a valuable tool in investigating the electronic properties of molecules.
Involved external institutions
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU)
Germany (DE)
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme (MPI PKS) / Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems
Germany (DE)
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
Switzerland (CH)
King Saud University (KSU) / جامعة الملك سعود
Saudi Arabia (SA)
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
Saudi Arabia (SA)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB)
Germany (DE)
Germany (DE)
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme (MPI PKS) / Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems
Germany (DE)
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
Switzerland (CH)
King Saud University (KSU) / جامعة الملك سعود
Saudi Arabia (SA)
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
Saudi Arabia (SA)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB)
Germany (DE)
How to cite
APA:
Biswas, S., Foerg, B., Ortmann, L., Schoetz, J., Schweinberger, W., Zimmermann, T.,... Kling, M.F. (2020). Probing molecular environment through photoemission delays. Nature Physics, 16(7), 778-783. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0887-8
MLA:
Biswas, Shubhadeep, et al. "Probing molecular environment through photoemission delays." Nature Physics 16.7 (2020): 778-783.
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