title: Direct observation of the dynamics of electronic excitations in molecules and small clusters
abstract: Femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is applied to study relaxation paths of excited states of mass-selected negatively charged clusters. As a first example, the lifetime of an excited state of the carbon trimer anion is measured directly. In addition, the mechanism of the decay, i.e., the configurations of the participating electronic states, is determined from the photoelectron spectra. In general, this method can be used to study all kinds of electronic excitation and relaxation processes in mass-selected nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich fur Physik, Universitat Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minemoto
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gantefor
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Munzer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boneberg
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leiderer