Breakdown of the spectator concept in low-electron-energy resonant decay processes

TL;DR

This paper investigates how low-energy electrons emitted during resonant decay are significantly scattered by excited electrons acting as spectators, altering emission patterns, with a focus on Ne dimers and confirmed by experiments.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of spectator electrons affecting low-energy electron emission in resonant decay, supported by theoretical and experimental analysis of Ne dimers.

Findings

Spectator electrons cause significant scattering of low-energy emitted electrons.

Angular emission distributions are notably altered due to spectator effects.

Experimental results confirm the theoretical predictions about spectator influence.

Abstract

We suggest that low energy electrons, released by resonant decay processes, experience substantial scattering on the electron density of excited electrons, which remain a spectator during the decay. As a result, the angular emission distribution is altered significantly. This effect is expected to be a common feature of low energy secondary electron emission. In this letter, we exemplify our idea by examining the spectator resonant interatomic Coulombic decay (sRICD) of Ne dimers. Our theoretical predictions are confirmed by a corresponding coincidence experiment.