Electron correlation driven non-adiabatic relaxation in molecules excited by an ultrashort extreme ultraviolet pulse.

ABSTRACT: The many-body quantum nature of molecules determines their static and dynamic properties, but remains the main obstacle in their accurate description. Ultrashort extreme ultraviolet pulses offer a means to reveal molecular dynamics at ultrashort timescales. Here, we report the use of time-resolved electron-momentum imaging combined with extreme ultraviolet attosecond pulses to study highly excited organic molecules. We measure relaxation timescales that increase with the state energy. High-level quantum calculations show these dynamics are intrinsic to the time-dependent many-body molecular wavefunction, in which multi-electronic and non-Born-Oppenheimer effects are fully entangled. Hints of coherent vibronic dynamics, which persist despite the molecular complexity and high-energy excitati

SUBMITTER: Marciniak A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6338739 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature