Time-resolved solvation of alkali ions in superfluid helium nanodroplets: Theoretical simulation of a pump-probe study

Abstract

The solvation process of an alkali ion (Na$^+$, K$^+$, Rb$^+$, Cs$^+$) inside a superfluid $^4$He$_{2000}$ nanodroplet is investigated theoretically using liquid $^4$He time-dependent density functional theory at zero temperature. We simulate both steps of the pump-probe experiment conducted on Na$^+$ [Albrechtsen et al., Nature 623, 319 (2023)], where the alkali atom residing at the droplet surface is ionized by the pump pulse and its solvation is probed by ionizing a central xenon atom and detecting the expulsed Na$^+$He$_n$ ions. Our results confirm the Poissonian model for the binding of the first five He atoms for the lighter Na$^+$ and K$^+$ alkalis, with a rate in good agreement with the more recent experimental results on Na$^+$ [Albrechtsen et al., J. Chem. Phys. 162, 174309 (2025)]. For the probe step we show that the ion takes several picoseconds to get out of the droplet. During this rather long time, the solvation structure around it is very hot and far from equilibrium, and it can gain or lose more He atoms. Surprisingly, analysing the Na$^+$ solvation structure energy reveals that it is not stable by itself during the first few picoseconds of the solvation process. After that, energy relaxation follows a Newton behavior, as found experimentally, but with a longer time delay, $5.0\leq t_0\leq 6.5$ ps vs. $0.23\pm0.06$ ps, and characteristic decay time, $7.3\le\tau\le 16.5$ ps vs. $2.6\pm 0.4$ ps. We conclude that the first instants of the solvation process are highly turbulent and that the solvation structure is stabilized only by the surrounding helium ``solvent''.