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    Excited-state relaxation of hydrated thymine and thymidine measured by liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy: experiment and simulation
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2015) Buchner, Franziska; Nakayama, Akira; Yamazaki, Shohei; Ritze, Hans-Hermann; Lübcke, Andrea
    Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is performed on thymine and thymidine in aqueous solution to study the excited-state relaxation dynamics of these molecules. We find two contributions with sub-ps lifetimes in line with recent excited-state QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations (J. Chem. Phys.2013, 139, 214304). The temporal evolution of ionization energies for the excited ππ* state along the QM/MM molecular dynamics trajectories were calculated and are compatible with experimental results, where the two contributions correspond to the relaxation paths in the ππ* state involving different conical intersections with the ground state. Theoretical calculations also show that ionization from the nπ* state is possible at the given photon energies, but we have not found any experimental indication for signal from the nπ* state. In contrast to currently accepted relaxation mechanisms, we suggest that the nπ* state is not involved in the relaxation process of thymine in aqueous solution.
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    Photoelectron holography in strong optical and dc electric fields
    (Bristol : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2014) Stodolna, A.; Huismans, Y.; Rouzée, A.; Lépine, F.; Vrakking, M.J.J.
    The application of velocity map imaging for the detection of photoelectrons resulting from atomic or molecular ionization allows the observation of interferometric, and in some cases holographic structures that contain detailed information on the target from which the photoelecrons are extracted. In this contribution we present three recent examples of the use of photoelectron velocity map imaging in experiments where atoms are exposed to strong optical and dc electric fields. We discuss (i) observations of the nodal structure of Stark states of hydrogen measured in a dc electric field, (ii) mid-infrared strong-field ionization of metastable Xe atoms and (iii) the reconstruction of helium electronic wavepackets in an attosecond pump-probe experiment. In each case, the interference between direct and indirect electron pathways, reminiscent of the reference and signal waves in holography, is seen to play an important role.
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    Interference in strong-field ionization of a two-centre atomic system
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Ansari, Z.; Böttcher, M.; Manschwetus, B.; Rottke, H.; Sandner, W.; Verhoef, A.; Lezius, M.; Paulus, G.G.; Saenz, A.; Milošević, D.B.
    Strong-field photoionization of argon dimers by a few-cycle laser pulse is investigated using electron-ion coincidence momentum spectroscopy. The momentum distribution of the photoelectrons exhibits interference due to the emission from the two atomic argon centres, in analogy with a Young's doubleslit experiment. However, a simulation of the dimer photoelectron momentum spectrum based on the atomic spectrum supplemented with a theoretically derived interference term leads to distinct deviations from the experimental result. The deviations may have their origin in a complex electron dynamics during strong-field ionization of the Ar2 dimer. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
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    A multiwavelength study of the Stingray Nebula; properties of the nebula, central star, and dust
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2016) Otsuka, Masaaki; Parthasarathy, Mudumba; Tajitsu, Akito; Hubrig, Swetlana
    We performed a detail chemical abundance analysis and photo-ionization modeling of the Stingray Nebula (Hen3-1357, Parthasarathy et al. 1993[1]) to more characterize this PN. We calculated nine elemental abundances using collisionally excited lines (CELs) and recombination lines (RLs). The RL C/O ratio indicates that this PN is O-rich, which is supported by the detection of the broad amorphous silicate features at 9 and 18 μm By photo-ionization modeling, we investigated properties of the central star and derived the gas and dust masses. The nebular elemental abundances, the core-mass of the central star, and the gas mass are in agreement with the AGB model for the initially 1.5 M⊙ stars with the Z = 0.008.