Abstract
Using synchrotron radiation we simultaneously ionize and excite one helium atom of a helium dimer () in a shakeup process. The populated states of the dimer ion [i.e., ] are found to deexcite via interatomic Coulombic decay. This leads to the emission of a second electron from the neutral site and a subsequent Coulomb explosion. In this Letter we present a measurement of the momenta of fragments that are created during this reaction. The electron energy distribution and the kinetic energy release of the two ions show pronounced oscillations which we attribute to the structure of the vibrational wave function of the dimer ion.
- Received 6 October 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.133401
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