Attosecond electron-electron collision dynamics of the four-electron escape in Be close to threshold

Abstract

We explore the escape geometry of four electrons a few eV above threshold following single-photon absorption from the ground state of Be. We find that the four electrons leave the atom on the vertices of a pyramid instead of a previously-predicted tetrahedron. To illustrate the physical mechanisms of quadruple ionization we use a momentum transferring attosecond collision scheme which we show to be in accord with the pyramid break-up pattern.

5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Delay in atomic photoionization
• Time delay between photoemission from the 2p and 2s subshells of Neon
• The Coulomb four-body problem in a classical framework: Triple photoionization of lithium
• Evidence for a {\bf T}-shape break-up pattern in the triple photoionization of Li
• Initial state dependence in multi-electron threshold ionization of atoms