Below band gap formation of solvated electrons in neutral water clusters?

TL;DR

This study investigates the formation and relaxation dynamics of solvated electrons in neutral water clusters below the band gap, revealing that solvent response dominates relaxation times similar to liquid water, with solvation time depending on binding energy.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relaxation times and solvation dynamics of solvated electrons in water clusters below the band gap, comparing them with liquid water and above band gap excitation.

Findings

Relaxation times of 200 fs and 1-2 ps are consistent across clusters and liquid.

Relaxation times are dominated by solvent response, not formation process.

Solvation time depends on the electron binding energy.

Abstract

Below band gap formation of solvated electrons in neutral water clusters using pump-probe photoelectron imaging is compared with recent data for liquid water and with above band gap excitation studies in the liquid and clusters. Similar relaxation times in the order of 200 fs and 1-2 ps are retrieved for below and above band gap excitation, in both clusters and liquid. The relaxation times independence from the generation process indicates that these times are dominated by the solvent response, which is significantly slower than the different solvated electron formation processes. The analysis of the temporal evolution of the vertical electron binding energy and the electron binding energy at half maximum suggests a dependence of the solvation time on the binding energy.