MULTICENTERED THEORY OF MOLECULAR PHOTOIONIZATION

Abstract

A new theory for near-threshold photoionization of inner electrons of atoms confined in multicentered atomic formations, e.g. molecules or clusters, is developed. The formulas for fixed-in-space molecules have been derived. The interaction of the photoelectron in the continuum with atoms that surround the atom being ionized, is replaced by the suitable boundary conditions imposed on the photoelectron wave function at the location of nuclei of these atoms in the molecule. The general formulas derived are used to calculate photoelectron angular distributions of diatomic molecules. The calculated data are in qualitative agreement with experimental data and results of other calculations.