Identifier
etd-03172015-140354
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Chemistry
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
This work in this dissertation explores how photoelectrons enter and exit atoms and molecules. The electron rescattering events which may occur during photoionization or photorecombination processes play a dominant role in the understanding of how photoelectrons enter and exit molecules, which is intrinsically linked to how chemical reactions occur. Chapters 3-4 of this dissertation present evidence of vibrational mode specific breakdown of the Franck-Condon Principle in the photoionization of low symmetry molecules, acrolein and the singly halogenated thiophenes, due to resonant and non-resonant electron rescattering dynamics. In Chapters 5-6, the disentanglement of the valence electronic structure, as well as evidence for low-energy shape resonances, of the pyrimidine-type nucleobases, thymine, uracil, and cytosine, is shown using high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy. Chapters 7-8 discuss the use of elliptically polarized light for high-order harmonic generation as a probe for electron rescattering dynamics in the gas-phase medium.
Date
2015
Document Availability at the Time of Submission
Student has submitted appropriate documentation to restrict access to LSU for 365 days after which the document will be released for worldwide access.
Recommended Citation
Fulfer, Kristen D'Ann, "Photoelectrons and Recombining Electrons in Atomic and Molecular Systems" (2015). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1291.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1291
Committee Chair
Poliakoff, Erwin
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.1291