@phdthesis{Mayer2022,
  author    = {Mayer, Dennis},
  title     = {Time-resolved x-ray spectroscopy of 2-thiouracil},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-57163},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-571636},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xiv, 169},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {In this thesis, I present my contributions to the field of ultrafast molecular spectroscopy. Using the molecule 2-thiouracil as an example, I use ultrashort x-ray pulses from free- electron lasers to study the relaxation dynamics of gas-phase molecular samples. Taking advantage of the x-ray typical element- and site-selectivity, I investigate the charge flow and geometrical changes in the excited states of 2-thiouracil. In order to understand the photoinduced dynamics of molecules, knowledge about the ground-state structure and the relaxation after photoexcitation is crucial. Therefore, a part of this thesis covers the electronic ground-state spectroscopy of mainly 2-thiouracil to provide the basis for the time-resolved experiments. Many of the previously published studies that focused on the gas-phase time-resolved dynamics of thionated uracils after UV excitation relied on information from solution phase spectroscopy to determine the excitation energies. This is not an optimal strategy as solvents alter the absorption spec- trum and, hence, there is no guarantee that liquid-phase spectra resemble the gas-phase spectra. Therefore, I measured the UV-absorption spectra of all three thionated uracils to provide a gas-phase reference and, in combination with calculations, we determined the excited states involved in the transitions. In contrast to the UV absorption, the literature on the x-ray spectroscopy of thionated uracil is sparse. Thus, we measured static photoelectron, Auger-Meitner and x-ray absorption spectra on the sulfur L edge before or parallel to the time-resolved experiments we performed at FLASH (DESY, Hamburg). In addition, (so far unpublished) measurements were performed at the synchrotron SOLEIL (France) which have been included in this thesis and show the spin-orbit splitting of the S 2p photoline and its satellite which was not observed at the free-electron laser. The relaxation of 2-thiouracil has been studied extensively in recent years with ultrafast visible and ultraviolet methods showing the ultrafast nature of the molecular process after photoexcitation. Ultrafast spectroscopy probing the core-level electrons provides a complementary approach to common optical ultrafast techniques. The method inherits its local sensitivity from the strongly localised core electrons. The core energies and core-valence transitions are strongly affected by local valence charge and geometry changes, and past studies have utilised this sensitivity to investigate the molecular process reflected by the ultrafast dynamics. We have built an apparatus that provides the requirements to perform time-resolved x-ray spectroscopy on molecules in the gas phase. With the apparatus, we performed UV-pump x-ray-probe electron spectroscopy on the S 2p edge of 2-thiouracil using the free-electron laser FLASH2. While the UV triggers the relaxation dynamics, the x-ray probes the single sulfur atom inside the molecule. I implemented photoline self-referencing for the photoelectron spectral analysis. This minimises the spectral jitter of the FEL, which is due to the underlying self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process. With this approach, we were not only able to study dynamical changes in the binding energy of the electrons but also to detect an oscillatory behaviour in the shift of the observed photoline, which we associate with non-adiabatic dynamics involving several electronic states. Moreover, we were able to link the UV-induced shift in binding energy to the local charge flow at the sulfur which is directly connected to the electronic state. Furthermore, the analysis of the Auger-Meitner electrons shows that energy shifts observed at early stages of the photoinduced relaxation are related to the geometry change in the molecule. More specifically, the observed increase in kinetic energy of the Auger-Meitner electrons correlates with a previously predicted C=S bond stretch.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MayerLeverGuehr2022,
  author    = {Mayer, Dennis and Lever, Fabiano and G{\"u}hr, Markus},
  title     = {Data analysis procedures for time-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at a SASE free-electron-laser},
  series = {Journal of physics : B, Atomic, molecular and optical physics},
  volume    = {55},
  journal   = {Journal of physics : B, Atomic, molecular and optical physics},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {IOP Publ.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {0953-4075},
  doi       = {10.1088/1361-6455/ac3c91},
  pages     = {9},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The random nature of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) is a well-known challenge for x-ray core level spectroscopy at SASE free-electron lasers (FELs). Especially in time-resolved experiments that require a combination of good temporal and spectral resolution the jitter and drifts in the spectral characteristics, relative arrival time as well as power fluctuations can smear out spectral-temporal features. We present a combination of methods for the analysis of time-resolved photoelectron spectra based on power and time corrections as well as self-referencing of a strong photoelectron line. Based on sulfur 2p photoelectron spectra of 2-thiouracil taken at the SASE FEL FLASH2, we show that it is possible to correct for some of the photon energy drift and jitter even when reliable shot-to-shot photon energy data is not available. The quality of pump-probe difference spectra improves as random jumps in energy between delay points reduce significantly. The data analysis allows to identify coherent oscillations of 1 eV shift on the mean photoelectron line of 4 eV width with an error of less than 0.1 eV.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{LeverMayerMetjeetal.2021,
  author    = {Lever, Fabiano and Mayer, Dennis and Metje, Jan and Alisauskas, Skirmantas and Calegari, Francesca and D{\"u}sterer, Stefan and Feifel, Raimund and Niebuhr, Mario and Manschwetus, Bastian and Kuhlmann, Marion and Mazza, Tommaso and Robinson, Matthew Scott and Squibb, Richard J. and Trabattoni, Andrea and Wallner, M{\aa}ns and Wolf, Thomas J. A. and G{\"u}hr, Markus},
  title     = {Core-level spectroscopy of 2-thiouracil at the sulfur L1 and L2,3 edges utilizing a SASE free-electron-laser},
  series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  journal   = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  number    = {21},
  issn      = {1866-8372},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-52409},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-524091},
  pages     = {13},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {In this paper, we report X-ray absorption and core-level electron spectra of the nucleobase derivative 2-thiouracil at the sulfur L1- and L2,3-edges. We used soft X-rays from the free-electron laser FLASH2 for the excitation of isolated molecules and dispersed the outgoing electrons with a magnetic bottle spectrometer. We identified photoelectrons from the 2p core orbital, accompanied by an electron correlation satellite, as well as resonant and non-resonant Coster-Kronig and Auger-Meitner emission at the L1- and L2,3-edges, respectively. We used the electron yield to construct X-ray absorption spectra at the two edges. The experimental data obtained are put in the context of the literature currently available on sulfur core-level and 2-thiouracil spectroscopy.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{LeverMayerMetjeetal.2021,
  author    = {Lever, Fabiano and Mayer, Dennis and Metje, Jan and Alisauskas, Skirmantas and Calegari, Francesca and D{\"u}sterer, Stefan and Feifel, Raimund and Niebuhr, Mario and Manschwetus, Bastian and Kuhlmann, Marion and Mazza, Tommaso and Robinson, Matthew Scott and Squibb, Richard J. and Trabattoni, Andrea and Wallner, M{\aa}ns and Wolf, Thomas J. A. and G{\"u}hr, Markus},
  title     = {Core-level spectroscopy of 2-thiouracil at the sulfur L1 and L2,3 edges utilizing a SASE free-electron-laser},
  series = {Molecules},
  volume    = {26},
  journal   = {Molecules},
  number    = {21},
  publisher = {MDPI},
  address   = {Basel},
  issn      = {1420-3049},
  pages     = {11},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {In this paper, we report X-ray absorption and core-level electron spectra of the nucleobase derivative 2-thiouracil at the sulfur L1- and L2,3-edges. We used soft X-rays from the free-electron laser FLASH2 for the excitation of isolated molecules and dispersed the outgoing electrons with a magnetic bottle spectrometer. We identified photoelectrons from the 2p core orbital, accompanied by an electron correlation satellite, as well as resonant and non-resonant Coster-Kronig and Auger-Meitner emission at the L1- and L2,3-edges, respectively. We used the electron yield to construct X-ray absorption spectra at the two edges. The experimental data obtained are put in the context of the literature currently available on sulfur core-level and 2-thiouracil spectroscopy.},
  language  = {en}
}