This review covers the outer core level photoionization of the free 3d metal atoms from Sc to Cu. The experimental 3p, 3s and 2p photoemission and photoabsorption spectra are discussed. A comparison emphasizes common features and distinct differences. The interpretation of the data based on ab initio calculations reveals the influence of multi-electron interactions in the 3d metal atoms. We focus on the fundamental effects and main interactions which govern the electronic structure of these open shell atoms.

We report on experimental results for the ionization and fragmentation of C60 after excitation with synchrotron radiation in the energy range 26–130 eV. The cross-section energy dependence of the produced Cq+60 ions (q = 1, 2, 3) and charged fragments is analysed. The Cq+60-ion yields (q = 2, 3) are explained within the framework of T D Thomas' model for multiple ionization.

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The photoabsorption spectrum of the 2p-3d resonances and the 2p photoelectron spectrum of atomic Ni were investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The analysis of the spectra takes into account that at the evaporation temperature of the metal at about 1800 K the fine structure states 3d(8) 4s(2) 3F and 3d(9) 4s 3D of both configurations 3d(8) 4s(2) and 3d(9) 4s are populated. The population of these two configurations offers the unique possibility for a comparison with the corresponding spectra in the condensed phase (Ni metal and NiO) where current configuration interaction calculations use the mixture of the configurations (3d,4s)(10). By using our theoretical description of the 2p photoionization new insight into these condensed phase spectra is found.

A time-resolved x-ray absorption study of the structural dynamics of liquid water on a picosecond time scale is presented. We apply femtosecond mid-infrared pulses to resonantly excite the intramolecular O-H stretching band of liquid water and monitor the transient response in the oxygen K-edge absorption spectrum with picosecond x-ray pulses. In this way, structural changes in the hydrogen bond network of liquid water upon an ultrafast temperature jump of approximately 20 Kelvin are investigated. The changes of the x-ray absorption as induced by such a temperature jump are about 3.2 %. This demonstrates that our method serves as a sensitive probe of transient structural changes in liquid water and that combined infrared laser-synchrotron experiments with substantially shorter x-ray pulses such as generated with a femtosecond slicing scheme are possible.