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We explore theoretically the ultrafast transfer of a double electron hole between the functional groups of glycine after /C-shell ionization and subsequent Auger decay. Although a large energy gap of about 15 eV initially exists between the two electronic states involved and coherent electronic dynamics play no role in the hole transfer, we find that the double hole is transferred within 3 to 4 fs between both functional ends of the glycine molecule driven solely by specific nuclear displacements and non-Bom-Oppenheimer effects. The nuclear displacements along specific vibrational modes are of the order of 15% of a typical chemical bond between carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms and about 30% for bonds involving hydrogen atoms. The time required for the hole transfer corresponds to less than half a vibrational period of the involved nuclear modes. This finding challenges the common wisdom that nuclear dynamics of the molecular skeleton are unimportant for charge transfer processes at the few-femtosecond time scale and shows that they can even play a prominent role. It also indicates that in x-ray imaging experiments, in which ionization is unavoidable, valence electron redistribution caused by nuclear dynamics might be much faster than previously anticipated. Thus, non-Born-Oppenheimer effects may affect the apparent electron densities extracted from such measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide the experimental evidence that the single electron capture process in slow collisions between O3+ ions and neon dimer targets leads to an unexpected production of low-energy electrons. This production results from the interatomic Coulombic decay process, subsequent to inner-shell single electron capture from one site of the neon dimer. Although pure one-electron capture from the inner shell is expected to be negligible in the low collision energy regime investigated here, the electron production due to this process overtakes by 1 order of magnitude the emission of Auger electrons by the scattered projectiles after double-electron capture. This feature is specific to low charge states of the projectile: similar studies with Xe20+ and Ar9+ projectiles show no evidence of inner-shell single-electron capture. The dependence of the process on the projectile charge state is interpreted using simple calculations based on the classical over the barrier model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By combining x-ray excited Auger electron diffraction experiments and multiple scattering calculations we reveal a layer-resolved shift for the Mg KL23L23 Auger transition in MgO ultrathin films (4-6 Å) on Ag(001). This resolution is exploited to demonstrate the possibility of controlling Mg atom incorporation at the MgO/Ag(001) interface by exposing the MgO films to a Mg flux. A substantial reduction of the MgO/Ag(001) work function is observed during the exposition phase and reflects both band-offset variations at the interface and band bending effects in the oxide film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a model of the attosecond resonant dynamics of valence electron photoemission and MMM Auger electron emission in copper dichloride. At τh≫1/ωIR (where τh is the core-hole relaxation time and ωIR is the energy of the infrared probe field), high-order Fano sideband resonances on both sides of the original (zeroth-order) resonance are found in the energy domain on the time scale of τh. This is confirmed by a coherent π rotation of the relative phase between the photoelectron and Auger electron at each resonance, due to the subfemtosecond quantum correlation. We also find a core-hole clock, the asymmetry factor q of the first-order Fano sideband resonance, which can directly trace the core-hole relaxation in the time domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tenet of time-resolved spectroscopy is "faster laser pulses for shorter timescales". Here, we suggest turning this paradigm around, and slowing down the system dynamics via repeated measurements, to do spectroscopy on longer timescales. This is the principle of the quantum Zeno effect. We exemplify our approach with the Auger process, and find that repeated measurements increase the core-hole lifetime, redistribute the kinetic energy of Auger electrons, and alter entanglement formation. We further provide an explicit experimental protocol for atomic Li, to make our proposal concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragmentation processes following C 1s→lowest unoccupied molecular orbital core excitations in CF4 have been analyzed on the ground of the angular distribution of the CF+3 emitted fragments by means of Auger electron-photoion coincidences. Different time scales have been enlightened, which correspond to either ultrafast fragmentation, on the few-femtosecond scale, where the molecule has no time to rotate and the fragments are emitted according to the maintained orientation of the core-excited species, or dissociation after resonant Auger decay, where the molecule still keeps some memory of the excitation process before reassuming random orientation. Potential energy surfaces of the ground, core-excited, and final states have been calculated at the ab initio level, which show the dissociative nature of the neutral excited state, leading to ultrafast dissociation, as well as the also dissociative nature of some of the final ionic states reached after resonant Auger decay, yielding the same fragments on a much longer time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the temporal evolution of molecular frame angular distributions of Auger electrons emitted during ultrafast dissociation of HCl following a resonant single-photon excitation. The electron emission pattern changes its shape from that of a molecular s orbital to that of an atomic p state as the system evolves from a molecule into two separated atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]