Methods and applications of femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

Femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is emerging as a new technique for investigating polyatomic excited state dynamics. Due to the sensitivity of photoelectron spectroscopy to both electronic configurations and vibrational dynamics, it is well suited to the study of ultrafast non-adiabatic processes such as internal conversion, often occurring on sub-picosecond time scales. We discuss technical requirements for such experiments, including laser systems, energy and angle resolved photoelectron spectrometers and new detectors for coincidence experiments. We illustrate these methods with examples from diatomic wavepacket dynamics and ultrafast non-adiabatic processes in polyatomic molecules. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. AU, rights reserved.