The influence of retardation and dielectric environments on interatomic Coulombic decay

Hemmerich, J. L., Bennett, R. and Buhmann, S. Y. (2018) The influence of retardation and dielectric environments on interatomic Coulombic decay. Nature Communications, 9, 2934. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05091-x) (PMID:30050091) (PMCID:PMC6062586)

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Abstract

Interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) is a very efficient process by which high-energy radiation is redistributed between molecular systems, often producing a slow electron, which can be damaging to biological tissue. During ICD, an initially-ionised and highly-excited donor species undergoes a transition where an outer-valence electron moves to a lower-lying vacancy, transmitting a photon with sufficient energy to ionise an acceptor species placed close by. Traditionally the ICD process has been described via ab initio quantum chemistry based on electrostatics in free space, which cannot include the effects of retardation stemming from the finite speed of light, nor the influence of a dispersive, absorbing, discontinuous environment. Here we develop a theoretical description of ICD based on macroscopic quantum electrodynamics in dielectrics, which fully incorporates all these effects, enabling the established power and broad applicability of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics to be unleashed across the fast-developing field of ICD.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant BU1803/3-1), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is gratefully acknowledged.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bennett, Dr Robert
Authors: Hemmerich, J. L., Bennett, R., and Buhmann, S. Y.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
Journal Name:Nature Communications
Publisher:Nature Research
ISSN:2041-1723
ISSN (Online):2041-1723
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2018 The Authors
First Published:First published in Nature Communications 9: 2934
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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