Electron diffraction self-imaging of molecular fragmentation in two-step double ionization of water.

We doubly ionize H(2)O by single photon absorption at 43 eV leading to H(+) + OH(+). A direct double ionization and a sequential process in which single ionization is followed by rapid dissociation into a proton and an autoionizing OH(*) are identified. The angular distribution of this delayed autoionization electron shows a preferred emission in the direction of the emitted proton. From this diffraction feature we obtain internuclear distances of 700 to 1100 a.u. at which the autoionization of the OH(*) occurs. The experimental findings are in line with calculations of the excited potential energy surfaces and their lifetimes.

Imaging the molecular dynamics of dissociative electron attachment to water.

Momentum imaging experiments on dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to a water molecule are combined with ab initio theoretical calculations of the angular dependence of the quantum mechanical amplitude for electron attachment to provide a detailed picture of the molecular dynamics of dissociation attachment via the two lowest energy Feshbach resonances. The combination of momentum imaging experiments and theory can reveal dissociation dynamics for which the axial recoil approximation breaks down and thus provides a powerful reaction microscope for DEA to polyatomics.