Attosecond electron-spin dynamics in Xe 4d photoionization

Abstract

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 new insight into the complex electron-spin dynamics of photo-induced phenomena.

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Measuring the quantum state of photoelectrons
• Three-electron correlations in strong laser field ionization: Spin induced effects
• Strong-Field Double Ionization in a Three-Electron Atom: Momentum Distribution Analysis
• Shape resonances in photoionization cross sections and time delay
• Quantum versus semi-classical signatures of correlated triple ionization in Dalitz plots