Ultrafast Molecular Three-Electron Auger Decay

Article

Ultrafast Molecular Three-Electron Auger Decay

Raimund Feifel, R.; Eland, J. H. D.; Squibb, R. J.; Mucke, M.; Zagorodskikh, S.; Linusson, P.; Tarantelli, F.; Kolorenč, P.; Averbukh, V.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 073001 (2016)

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Abstract

Three-electron Auger decay is an exotic and elusive process, in which two outer-shell electrons simultaneously refill an inner-shell double vacancy with emission of a single Auger electron. Such transitions are forbidden by the many-electron selection rules, normally making their decay lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the few-femtosecond lifetimes of normal (two-electron) Auger decay. Here we present theoretical predictions and direct experimental evidence for a few-femtosecond three-electron Auger decay of a double inner-valence-hole state in CH3F. Our analysis shows that in contrast to double core holes, double inner-valence vacancies in molecules can decay exclusively by this ultrafast three-electron Auger process, and we predict that this phenomenon occurs widely.

Institute authors

Kolorenč, Přemysl

Supported by

GACR 208/12/0521 — Non-radiative relaxation processes in ionized atomic and molecular systems

BibTeX

@article{UTF563,
  author        = {Raimund Feifel, R. and Eland, J. H. D. and Squibb, R. J. and Mucke, M. and Zagorodskikh, S. and Linusson, P. and Tarantelli, F. and Kolorenč, P. and Averbukh, V.},
  title         = {{Ultrafast Molecular Three-Electron Auger Decay}},
  journal       = {Phys. Rev. Lett.},
  volume        = {116},
  pages         = {073001},
  year          = {2016},
  doi           = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.073001},
}