XUV fluorescence as a probe of interatomic coulombic decay of resonantly excited He nanodroplets
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Superfluid He nanodroplets resonantly excited by extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses can relax via interatomic coulombic decay (ICD), generally considered an ultrafast process. Here, we introduce a novel approach to probe the dynamics of ICD in He nanodroplets over timescales ranging from femtoseconds to nanoseconds. Our method relies on detecting XUV fluorescence emitted from the nanodroplets as they are driven into a nanoplasma by subsequent intense infrared pulses. Nanoplasma ignition is facilitated by tunnel ionization of XUV-excited He[Formula: see text] atoms attached to the droplets; it thus serves as a sensitive probe of their relaxation dynamics. The observed nanosecond-scale decay is attributed to ICD between pairs of He[Formula: see text] atoms undergoing roaming motion on the droplet surface, as supported by quantum-mechanical and classical model calculations.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Keshav Sishodia, Ltaief Ben Ltaief, Niklas Scheel, István B. Földes, Andreas Hult Roos, Martin Albrecht, Matyáš Staněk, Lucie Jurkovičová, Ondrej Hort, Jaroslav Nejdl, Ernesto García-Alfonso, Nadine Halberstadt, Jakob Andreasson, Eva Klimešová, Maria Krikunova, Sivarama Krishnan, Andreas Heidenreich, Marcel Mudrich
Institutions: Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Extreme Light Infrastructure Beamlines, Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC (Czech Republic), Aarhus University, HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire Collisions Agrégats Réactivité, Université de Toulouse, Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau, Ikerbasque, University of the Basque Country, Donostia International Physics Center, University of Kassel
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
Funders: Villum Fonden, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research, Eusko Jaurlaritza, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Novo Nordisk, Novo Nordisk Fonden, Universität Kassel, Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration
Award: G435022861
OpenAlex ID: W7119575283