Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Auger decay, i.e. the spontaneous emission of an electron upon relaxation of the atomic shell, carries valuable information about the electronic structure and dynamics of atoms and their compounds. While the energetic properties are well investigated, little is known about the detailed temporal profile of Auger electron wave packets. Here we furnish evidence, that under certain conditions Auger electrons are subject to an energetic chirp imprinting a non-linear change of energy over time on the escaping wave packet. The origin of this unexpected finding is shown to be the exchange of energy between the Auger electron and a slightly earlier emitted photoelectron in the presence of a laser field. The interpretation in terms of this long-range electron correlation is substantiated by fs-time-resolved experiments on the xenon NOO and Kr MNN Auger decay together with extensive theoretical modelling using semi-classical as well as quantum-mechanical simulations.