Auger recombination dynamics in Hg13- clusters

Electronic relaxation dynamics following interband excitation from the 6s to the 6p band in mass selected Hg13- clusters are measured through femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging (TRPEI). This interband transition is pumped at 4.65 eV and probed at 1.55 eV. Auger decay of occurs on a timescale of 490 ± 100 fs, and a similar time constant is seen for the transient excited state population created by the pump pulse. These time constants are an order of magnitude faster than those seen in previous experiments in which the lone p-electron in Hg13- was excited within the p-band. The results presented here imply that substantial relaxation of either electrons in the p-band or the hole in the s-band takes place prior to Auger emission, with electron-electron scattering playing a key role in the fast observed dynamics.