Photoelectron Polarization in Hg6s2Subshell Ionization with Unpolarized Light: New Aspect of the Fano Effect

Abstract

Experimental evidence is presented for the effect of photoionization of $n{s}^{2}$ atomic subshells with unpolarized radiation that leads to highly polarized photoelectrons in angular-resolved measurements. Like the Fano effect, the observed phenomenon is caused by spin-orbit interaction in the continuous spectrum. The spin polarization essentially depends on the phase-shift difference between the $\ensuremath{\epsilon}{p}_{\frac{1}{2}}$ and $\ensuremath{\epsilon}{p}_{\frac{3}{2}}$ continua.