Attosecond photoionisation time delays reveal the anisotropy of the molecular potential in the recoil frame.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35273155.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-28783-x and PMC identifier 8913798.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Photoionisation time delays carry structural and dynamical information on the target system, including electronic correlation effects in atoms and molecules and electron transport properties at interfaces. In molecules, the electrostatic potential experienced by an outgoing electron depends on the emission direction, which should thus lead to anisotropic time delays. To isolate this effect, information on the orientation of the molecule at the photoionisation instant is required. Here we show how attosecond time delays reflect the anisotropic molecular potential landscape in CF<sub>4</sub> molecules. The variations in the measured delays can be directly related to the different heights of the potential barriers that the outgoing electrons see in the vicinity of shape resonances. Our results indicate the possibility to investigate the spatial characteristics of the molecular potential by mapping attosecond photoionisation time delays in the recoil-frame.