Four-body postcollision interaction and two-photon pathways in neon double-core-hole states
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Double-core-hole (DCH) states offer a unique window into electron correlation and multielectron dynamics. Using intense x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses and high photon-energy resolution, we generate DCH states in neon via sequential absorption of two x-ray photons within the 1 s core-hole lifetime ( ≅ 2.4 fs). These DCH states are populated, depending on the photon energy, via two different pathways, and they are detected via their KLL hypersatellite Auger decay. A high-photon-energy-resolution study of these two pathways, previously identified in water, allows us to reveal further details of the corresponding processes. The sequential double-ionization with two photons also allows us to study postcollision interaction (PCI) in a four-particle system consisting of the remaining ion, as well as two photoelectrons and one Auger electron, each with well-defined velocities. The observed PCI shift is well described by a theoretical approach based on the eikonal approximation and shows that the influence on the Auger electron is dominated by the slow photoelectron, while the fast photoelectron provides only a minor correction. Calculations show that for the utilized two-photon double-ionization scheme to prepare DCH states, the length of the FEL pulse influences the PCI shift.
Source: Physical Review Research
DOI: 10.1103/62xn-rkzr
Authors: Abhishek Verma, Renaud Guillemin, Ralph Püttner, Iyas Ismail, Dimitris Koulentianos, Gilles Doumy, Tatiana Marchenko, Oksana Travnikova, Dawei Peng, Nicolas Velasquez, Anthony Ferté, Francis Penent, Florian Trinter, Linda Young, Stephen H. Southworth, Alberto De Fanis, Thomas Baumann, Simon Dold, Markus Ilchen, Daniel Rivas, Edwin Kukk, Stéphane Carniato, Tommaso Mazza, Michael Meyer, John Bozek, Marc Simon
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Synchrotron SOLEIL, Sorbonne Université, Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique - Matière et Rayonnement, Freie Universität Berlin, Argonne National Laboratory, European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, University of Chicago, Universität Hamburg, University of Turku, International Research Laboratory CNRS-EuXFEL
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,625
OpenAlex ID: W7216384931