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A molecular clock for autoionization decay
The ultrafast decay of highly excited electronic states is resolved with a molecular clock technique, using the vibrational motion associated to the ionic bound states as a time-reference. We demonstrate the validity of the method in the context of autoionization of the hydrogen molecule, where nearly exact full dimensional ab-initio calculations are available. The vibrationally resolved photoionization spectrum provides a time–energy mapping of the autoionization process into the bound states that is used to fully reconstruct the decay in time. A resolution of a fraction of the vibrational period is achieved. Since no assumptions are made on the underlying coupled electron–nuclear dynamics, the reconstruction procedure can be applied to describe the general problem of the decay of highly excited states in other molecular targets.
Signatures of attosecond electronic–nuclear dynamics in the one-photon ionization of molecular hydrogen: analytical model versusab initiocalculations
We present an analytical model based on the time-dependent WKB approximation to reproduce the photoionization spectra of an H2 molecule in the autoionization region. We explore the nondissociative channel, which is the major contribution after one-photon absorption, and we focus on the features arising in the energy differential spectra due to the interference between the direct and the autoionization pathways. These features depend on both the timescale of the electronic decay of the autoionizing state and the time evolution of the vibrational wavepacket created in this state. With full ab initio calculations and with a one-dimensional approach that only takes into account the nuclear wavepacket associated to the few relevant electronic states we compare the ground state, the autoionizing state, and the background continuum electronic states. Finally, we illustrate how these features transform from molecular-like to atomic-like by increasing the mass of the system, thus making the electronic decay time shorter than the nuclear wavepacket motion associated with the resonant state. In other words, autoionization then occurs faster than the molecular dissociation into neutrals.