Time delay in photoionization of an electron in a cubic molecular cage

Eisenbud-Wigner-Smith (EWS) time delay, determined from the energy derivative of the quantum phase of scattering, provides the fundamental time of scattering interaction. For the single-photon ionization or recombination, which is equivalent to a half-scattering process, EWS delay calculations have success in explaining interferometric measurements: (i) RABITT delay for the photorecombination of Ar 3p electron [1] and (ii) streaking delay of the C₆₀ giant plasmonic photoionization (PI) [2]. With regards to PI from caged systems, emissions from atoms inside spherical C₆₀ were considered [3,4]. Recent synthesis of polyhedral fluorocarbon anion as an efficient electron host [5] instigates EWS delay studies of the PI of an electron inside a cubic molecule. We accomplished this in current research. A two-step model calculation, first in a 2D confinement and then upgraded to 3D, unravels rich diffraction structures in energy and angular distribution expected for PI in molecules with various symmetries. [1] Magrakvelidze et al., Phys. Rev. A 91, 063415 (2015); [2] Biswas et al., http://arxiv.org/abs/2111.14464; [3] Deshmukh et al., Phys. Rev. A 89, 053424 (2014); [4] Dixit et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 203003 (2013); [5] Sugiyama et al., Science 377, 756 (2022).