Ultrafast imaging of laser-controlled non-adiabatic dynamics in NO2 from time-resolved photoelectron emission.

Time-resolving and controlling coupled electronic and nuclear dynamics at conical intersections on the sub-femtosecond to few-femtosecond time scale is among the challenging goals of attosecond physics. Here we present numerical simulations of time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of such dynamics in NO2, where the coupled electron-nuclear motion at the 2A1/2B2 conical intersection is steered on the sub-laser-cycle time scale by a nearly single-cycle, waveform controlled mid-infrared laser pulse. For a rigorous description of the photoionization dynamics, we employ ab initio energy- and geometry-resolved photoionization matrix elements obtained with the multichannel R-matrix method, using a multiconfigurational description of the molecule and a newly developed algorithm to generate photoionization dipoles that are phase consistent on the level of both the neutral and the ionic states. We find that for sufficient molecular alignment, the time- and energy-resolved anisotropy parameters of the photoelectron angular distributions provide a particularly clear picture of both the ultrafast natural molecular dynamics at the conical intersection and its modifications by the control pulse. In particular, changes in the electronic and nuclear configurations induced by the control pulse lead to the appearance of non-vanishing odd anisotropy parameters in the photoelectron spectra. These are absent in the spectra obtained without the control pulse and therefore provide sensitive, background-free diagnostic of the control.

Role of electronic correlations in photoionization of NO2 in the vicinity of the 2A1/2B2 conical intersection.

We present the first ab initio multi-channel photoionization calculations for NO2 in the vicinity of the 2A1/2B2 conical intersection, for a range of nuclear geometries, using our newly developed set of tools based on the ab initio multichannel R-matrix method. Electronic correlation is included in both the neutral and the scattering states of the molecule via configuration interaction. Configuration mixing is especially important around conical intersections and avoided crossings, both pertinent for NO2, and manifests itself via significant variations in photoelectron angular distributions. The method allows for a balanced and accurate description of the photoionization/photorecombination for a number of different ionic channels in a wide range of photoelectron energies up to 100 eV. Proper account of electron correlations is crucial for interpreting time-resolved signals in photoelectron spectroscopy and high harmonic generation (HHG) from polyatomic molecules.

Multidimensional high harmonic spectroscopy of polyatomic molecules: detecting sub-cycle laser-driven hole dynamics upon ionization in strong mid-IR laser fields.

High harmonic generation (HHG) spectroscopy has opened up a new frontier in ultrafast science, where electronic dynamics can be measured on an attosecond time scale. The strong laser field that triggers the high harmonic response also opens multiple quantum pathways for multielectron dynamics in molecules, resulting in a complex process of multielectron rearrangement during ionization. Using combined experimental and theoretical approaches, we show how multi-dimensional HHG spectroscopy can be used to detect and follow electronic dynamics of core rearrangement on sub-laser cycle time scales. We detect the signatures of laser-driven hole dynamics upon ionization and reconstruct the relative phases and amplitudes for relevant ionization channels in a CO2 molecule on a sub-cycle time scale. Reconstruction of channel-resolved complex ionization amplitudes on attosecond time scales has been a long-standing goal of high harmonic spectroscopy. Our study brings us one step closer to fulfilling this initial promise and developing robust schemes for sub-femtosecond imaging of multielectron rearrangement in complex molecular systems.