Physics Colloquium - Photoionization of Free and Confined Atoms

Photoionization of Free and Confined Atoms

 Steven T. Manson

(Georgia State University)

 Photoionization offers an excellent technique to study atomic systems since the smallness of the interaction between the photon and an atomic electron is quite small (of the order of the fine-stricture constant, ~1/137), and the photon disappears after the interaction.  In addition, photoionization of atomic systems has applications to a variety of fields of science and technology, fundamental and applied.  Despite the fact that the process was explained by Einstein in 1905, there are still aspects that are only recently coming to light.

In this talk a selection of recent results will be presented to try to give a picture of where the field is at present.  New phenomenology will be highlighted.  Among the topics included are the ideas behind confinement resonances in photoionization of atoms confined in fullerenes, understanding the complexity of inner-shell photoionization by open-shell atoms, correlation in high-energy photoionization, hybridization and interatomic decay in confined atoms,  attosecond time delay in photoelectron emission, and nondipole effects in atomic photoionization. 

For all of these examples an attempt will be made to focus on the underlying physics responsible for the various phenomenologies.