Open this publication in new window or tab >>Show others...
2020 (English)In: Nature Communications, E-ISSN 2041-1723, Vol. 11, no 1, article id 5042Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The photoionization of xenon atoms in the 70-100 eV range reveals several fascinating physical phenomena such as a giant resonance induced by the dynamic rearrangement of the electron cloud after photon absorption, an anomalous branching ratio between intermediate Xe+ states separated by the spin-orbit interaction and multiple Auger decay processes. These phenomena have been studied in the past, using in particular synchrotron radiation, but without access to real-time dynamics. Here, we study the dynamics of Xe 4d photoionization on its natural time scale combining attosecond interferometry and coincidence spectroscopy. A time-frequency analysis of the involved transitions allows us to identify two interfering ionization mechanisms: the broad giant dipole resonance with a fast decay time less than 50 as, and a narrow resonance at threshold induced by spin-flip transitions, with much longer decay times of several hundred as. Our results provide insight into the complex electron-spin dynamics of photo-induced phenomena.
National Category
Physical Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-187615 (URN)10.1038/s41467-020-18847-1 (DOI)000577244600008 ()33028822 (PubMedID)
2021-01-132021-01-132023-03-28Bibliographically approved