VUV Spectroscopy of Atoms, Molecules and Surfaces
VUV Spectroscopy of Atoms, Molecules and Surfaces
VUV Spectroscopy of Atoms, Molecules and Surfaces
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2 <strong>VUV</strong> light generation: possibilities <strong>and</strong> limitations<br />
dividual atoms are broadened into b<strong>and</strong>s with the b<strong>and</strong>s being more narrow<br />
the more tightly bound the electrons.<br />
Associated with each electronic energy level (or b<strong>and</strong>) is a spectral width<br />
or, equivalently, a lifetime, implying two ways <strong>of</strong> determining it: by scanning<br />
the energy spectrum with laser light <strong>of</strong> a comparatively narrower b<strong>and</strong>width,<br />
or by measuring the decay rate <strong>of</strong> the level using, e.g., laser pulses with a<br />
duration shorter than the lifetime. The decay <strong>of</strong> such energy levels is usually<br />
referred to as the dynamics <strong>of</strong> the system, <strong>and</strong> the two methods supplement<br />
<strong>and</strong> complement each other with the first being applicable to spectrally broad-<br />
(short-lived) <strong>and</strong> the latter to spectrally narrow (long-lived) energy levels.<br />
The lifetime <strong>of</strong> an energy level depends on the decay possibilities <strong>and</strong> is thus<br />
in general expected to decrease, the higher lying the level is. There are,<br />
however, significant deviations from this rule depending on the orbital- <strong>and</strong><br />
spin angular momenta <strong>of</strong> the state <strong>and</strong> the selection rules governing its decay.<br />
The widths <strong>of</strong> atomic- <strong>and</strong> molecular electronic energy levels are typically in<br />
the µeV–meV range but may be much narrower, while the width <strong>of</strong> a corehole<br />
in a solid is in the meV–eV range.<br />
All <strong>of</strong> the above-mentioned energy levels could be called stationary in the<br />
sence that they are characteristic <strong>of</strong> an isolated or undisturbed system. For<br />
a molecule or a solid undergoing a dynamical, structural transition associated<br />
with re-arrangements <strong>of</strong> the atomic positions with respect to each other,<br />
the energy levels will change accordingly. Examples <strong>of</strong> structural dynamical<br />
transitions are the dissociation <strong>of</strong> a molecule following its excitation to a<br />
repulsive state, a chemical reaction or a solid-liquid phase transition. Structural<br />
dynamics proceeds on the atomic level on a femtosecond timescale,<br />
<strong>and</strong> information about the evolution <strong>of</strong> the intermediate state can only be<br />
obtained with a probe <strong>of</strong> comparable time resolution. Femtosecond lasers<br />
provide the time-resolution required to follow such processes, <strong>and</strong> the pumpprobe<br />
technique where the reaction or transition <strong>of</strong> interest is initiated by<br />
a laser pulse (the pump) <strong>and</strong> after a time delay probed by another laser<br />
pulse is widely used. At present femtosecond lasers only generate light in<br />
the visible part <strong>of</strong> the spectrum which interacts with the valence electrons<br />
<strong>and</strong> only indirectly probes the atomic motion. For direct information about<br />
structural changes, i.e. the atomic positions, as a function <strong>of</strong> the time delay,<br />
shorter wavelength probes, ideally X-rays, are usually required. An exception<br />
is the pump-probe technique <strong>of</strong> Coulomb explosion applied to gas-phase<br />
chemical reactions where the (visible) probe pulse is sufficiently intense to<br />
induce multiple ionization <strong>of</strong> the molecule [1]. The Coulomb repulsion in the<br />
resulting positively charged system leads to dissociation, <strong>and</strong> by measuring<br />
the energies <strong>of</strong> the resulting fragments the molecular bond length at the time<br />
<strong>of</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> the probe laser pulse can be determined.