| Abstract | We present femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectra of adenine in a molecular beam, recorded at pump wavelengths of 250, 267, and 277 nm. This leads to initial excitation of the bright S2(*). Close to the band origin (277 nm), the lifetime is several picoseconds. Higher vibronic levels (267 and 250 nm excitation) show much shorter lifetimes of t < 50 fs, and we observe strong coupling between S2(*) and S1(n*). Rapid internal conversion (t < 50 fs) populates the lower lying S1(n*) state which has a lifetime of 750 fs. At 267 nm, we found evidence for an additional channel which is consistent with the dissociative S3(*) state, previously proposed as an ultrafast relaxation pathway from S2(*). |
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