A high-resolution study of resonant Auger decay processes in N2O after core electron excitation from terminal nitrogen, central nitrogen and oxygen atoms to the 3π LUMO

Abstract

Decay spectra of N2O following excitation to the N terminal (Nt) → π*, N central (Nc) → π* and O 1s → π* intermediate states are reported. The final states reached after participator decay show resonant enhancement consistent with a local-density-of-states analysis based on the Mulliken population of the valence molecular orbitals. In particular, the X-state is resonantly enhanced mostly after excitation from the Nt 1s and the O 1s core levels to the π*, while the B-state is mostly enhanced following the excitation of the Nc 1s → π* intermediate state. Below the Nt 1s threshold, the lowest lying peak related to spectator decay falls at lower binding energy than the highest lying participator peak. This can be attributed to a particularly strong screening effect exerted by the excited electron in the LUMO.