Two-center interference and stereo Wigner time delay in photoionization of asymmetric molecules

Abstract

We present numerical simulations of the time delay in photoemission of asymmetric diatomic molecules using the technique of reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABITT) by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. Our results show an obvious time delay between photoelectrons emitted to the left and right and this relative time delay oscillates as the photoelectron energy changes. More interestingly, the amplitude of this oscillation increases when the asymmetry degree of diatomic molecules decreases. With the method of the selected continuum wave functions, we calculate the Wigner time delay in photoionization. The obtained stereo Wigner time delay also oscillates with photoelectron energy. This oscillation is traced back to two-center interferences and it could explain the relative time delay in the RABITT measurement. Furthermore, our results indicate that the continuum-continuum time delay in photoemission of heteronuclear molecules is asymmetric.