On the measurability of Wigner time delays at shape resonances in photodetachment of polyatomic anions

Abstract

The energy dependence of the complex phases of electron continuum wave functions carries information about electron dynamics. Streaking and attosecond interference experiments (called RABBIT) seek to measure this energy dependence, and therefore, the time delays of ionization. The long-range Coulomb interaction dominates in those experiments, and can obscure the low-energy features of the Wigner time delays that are the object of the measurement. Photodetachment of electrons from negative ions has no long-range Coulomb interaction, and RABBIT and streaking measurements of photodetachment delays have the potential to reveal time delays of up to one femtosecond in low-energy features. We predict the results of such experiments on a particularly interesting polyatomic example, the nitrate anion (NO$_3^-$), for both valence and core electron detachment. We simulate the experiments in these cases and analyze the underlying physics of measurements on polyatomic anions where many electron partial waves contribute and find that the angular dependence of the measured delays generally differs from the Wigner delays. However, we demonstrate that measurements performed for ejection directions close to the polarization of the light sources can directly access the Wigner delays that give a time-dependent window on electron-molecule interactions. A promising experiment involving core photodetachment of NO$_3^-$ with X-rays is proposed.