Photoionization
The ejection of one or more electrons from an atom, molecule, or positive ion following the absorption of one or more photons. The process of electron ejection from matter following the absorption of electromagnetic radiation has been under investigation for over a century. The earliest measurements involved the ultraviolet irradiation of metal surfaces. The theoretical interpretation of this phenomenon, known as the photoelectric effect, played an important role in establishing quantum mechanics. It was shown that, contrary to classical ideas, energy exchanges between radiation and matter are mediated by integral numbers of photons. In the gas phase the photoeffect is called either photoionization (atoms, molecules, and their positive ions) or photodetachment (atomic and molecular negative ions). See Photoemission
Photoionization involves a radiative bound-free transition from an initial state consisting of n photons and an atom, molecule, or ion in a bound state to a final continuum state consisting of a residual ion (or an atom in the case of photodetachment) and m free electrons; that is,
In the simplest atomic photoionization process a single electron is ejected from an atom following the absorption of a single photon. Each mode of fragmentation defines a final-state channel that is characterized by the energy and angular momentum of the outgoing electron as well as the excitation state of the residual ion. Since the photoionization process is endoergic, each channel has a well-defined threshold energy below which the channel is energetically closed. The threshold photon energy for a particular channel is equal to the binding energy of the electron that is to be ejected plus the excitation energy, if any, of the residual ion.
Above threshold, the energy carried off by the outgoing electron represents the balance between the energy supplied by the photon and the binding energy of the electron plus the excitation energy of the residual ion (neglecting the small recoil of the heavy ion). A photoelectron spectrum is characterized by a discrete set of peaks, each peak being associated with a particular state of the residual ion. Information on the excitation state of the ion following photoionization can also be obtained by monitoring the fluorescence emitted in the subsequent radiative decay of the state. One of the earliest applications of photoionization measurements was the investigation of the structure of atoms by determining the binding energies of both outer- and inner-shell electrons by means of photoelectron spectroscopy. See Atomic structure and spectra
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