Spectral variation of fixed-molecule photoelectron angular distributions

Abstract

We have computed the angular distribution of electrons ejected by electric-dipole interaction from the K shells of CO and N2 molecules held fixed in space, e.g., by adsorption onto a surface. The predicted distributions are very rich in structure, manifesting directly the spectral variation of the orbital momentum composition of the photocurrent. Experimental determination of such distributions will provide a sensitive, detailed probe of molecular photoionization dynamics.