Partial-photoelectron-wave analysis in diatomic molecule photoionization by fluorescence polarization experiments

Abstract

Parameters $\ensuremath{\beta}1$ and $\ensuremath{\beta}2$ describing the angular distribution of circularly polarized fluorescence photons emitted by randomly oriented diatomic molecules excited by circularly polarized radiation are derived. We prove theoretically that measuring these parameters allows a partial-wave analysis of the emitted photoelectrons in the case of closed-shell diatomic molecules. The determination of the relative partial cross sections for emission of the $\ensuremath{\varepsilon}\ensuremath{\sigma}$, $\ensuremath{\varepsilon}\ensuremath{\pi}$, and $\ensuremath{\varepsilon}\ensuremath{\delta}$ photoelectrons is of fundamental importance for a sensitive test of corresponding calculations.