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Observation of intermolecular Coulombic decay and shake-up satellites in liquid ammonia
- Source :
- Structural Dynamics, Vol 9, Iss 4, Pp 044901-044901-12 (2022)
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- AIP Publishing LLC and ACA, 2022.
-
Abstract
- We report the first nitrogen 1s Auger–Meitner electron spectrum from a liquid ammonia microjet at a temperature of ∼223 K (–50 °C) and compare it with the simultaneously measured spectrum for gas-phase ammonia. The spectra from both phases are interpreted with the assistance of high-level electronic structure and ab initio molecular dynamics calculations. In addition to the regular Auger–Meitner-electron features, we observe electron emission at kinetic energies of 374–388 eV, above the leading Auger–Meitner peak (3a12). Based on the electronic structure calculations, we assign this peak to a shake-up satellite in the gas phase, i.e., Auger–Meitner emission from an intermediate state with additional valence excitation present. The high-energy contribution is significantly enhanced in the liquid phase. We consider various mechanisms contributing to this feature. First, in analogy with other hydrogen-bonded liquids (noticeably water), the high-energy signal may be a signature for an ultrafast proton transfer taking place before the electronic decay (proton transfer mediated charge separation). The ab initio dynamical calculations show, however, that such a process is much slower than electronic decay and is, thus, very unlikely. Next, we consider a non-local version of the Auger–Meitner decay, the Intermolecular Coulombic Decay. The electronic structure calculations support an important contribution of this purely electronic mechanism. Finally, we discuss a non-local enhancement of the shake-up processes.
- Subjects :
- Crystallography
QD901-999
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 23297778
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Structural Dynamics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.1c72e3b50746467da64d769531d95a59
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1063/4.0000151