Attosecond spectroscopy of liquid water

We report the extension of attosecond spectroscopy to the liquid phase. We measured time delays of 50 to 70 attoseconds between the photoemission from liquid water and that from gaseous water at photon energies of 21.7 to 31.0 electron volts. These photoemission delays can be decomposed into a photoionization delay sensitive to the local environment and a delay originating from electron transport. In our experiments, the latter contribution is shown to be negligible. By referencing liquid water to gaseous water, we isolated the effect of solvation on the attosecond photoionization dynamics of water molecules. Our methods define an approach to separating bound and unbound electron dynamics from the structural response of the solvent.

Source: ScienceNOW - August 19, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Jordan, I., Huppert, M., Rattenbacher, D., Peper, M., Jelovina, D., Perry, C., von Conta, A., Schild, A., Wörner, H. J. Tags: Chemistry, Physics reports Source Type: news