XUV Pump-Probe Experiments on Diatomic Molecules

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introduction

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 1-8

3. Photoionization and Interatomic Coulombic Decay

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 9-44

4. Free-Electron Lasers

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 45-55

5. Experimental Setup

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 57-81

6. Data Analysis

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 83-97

7. Ionization Dynamics of \(\text {I}_{2}\) in XUV and IR Laser Pulses

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 99-148

8. ICD Lifetime in \(\text {Ne}_{\mathbf {2}}\)

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 149-179

9. Conclusions and Outlook

   • Kirsten Schnorr

   Pages 181-188

10. Back Matter

    Pages 189-191

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This book explores the relaxation dynamics of inner-valence-ionized diatomic molecules on the basis of extreme-ultraviolet pump-probe experiments performed at the free-electron laser (FEL) in Hamburg. Firstly, the electron rearrangement dynamics in dissociating multiply charged iodine molecules is studied in an experiment that made it possible to access charge transfer in a thus far unexplored quasimolecular regime relevant for plasma and chemistry applications of the FEL. Secondly the lifetime of an efficient non-radiative relaxation process that occurs in weakly bound systems is measured directly for the first time in a neon dimer (Ne₂). Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) has been identified as the dominant decay mechanism in inner-valence-ionized or excited van-der-Waals and hydrogen bonded systems, the latter being ubiquitous in all biomolecules. The role of ICD in DNA damage thus demands further investigation, e.g. with regard to applications like radiation therapy.

• Efficient Non-radiative Relaxation Process
• Electron Rearrangment Dynamics
• Excited van-der-Waals and Hydrogen Bonded Systems
• ICD and DNA Damage
• Inner-shell Ionized Molecules
• Inner-valence-ionized Biomolecules
• Interatomic Coulombic Decay
• Lifetime of Non-radiative Relaxation Process
• Multiphoton Ionization in XUV
• Time-resolved Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics
• XUV Energy Regime

• Department of Quantum Dynamics and Control, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany

  Kirsten Schnorr

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