The photoionization cross section of endohedral Xe@C60 over a Xe 4d giant resonance energy region, calculated in the time-dependent local density approximation, is compared with recent measurements (Kilcoyne et al 2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 213001). An analysis based on the Fourier transforms of oscillatory cross sections is performed to derive a number of inherent similarities between the prediction and the data, including a large beating-type oscillation and several others of intermediate size. Results stress the need for more accurate measurements to access the wealth of information about the geometry of the system.

A theoretical study of photoionization from the outermost orbitals of Be, Mg and Ca atoms endohedrally confined in C 60 is reported. The fullerene ion core, comprised of sixty C 4+ , is smudged into a continuous jellium charge distribution, while the delocalized cloud of carbon valence electrons plus the encaged atom are treated in the time-dependent local density approximation (TDLDA). Systematic evolution of the mixing of outer atomic level with states of the C 60 valence band is found along the sequence. This is found to influence the plasmonic enhancement of atomic photoionization at low energies and the geometry-revealing confinement oscillations at high energies in significantly different ways: (a) The extent of enhancement is mainly determined by the strength of atomic ionization, giving the strongest enhancement for Be even though Ca suffers the largest mixing. But (b) strongest collateral oscillations are uncovered for Ca, since, relative to Be and Mg, the mixing causes the highest photoelectron production at confining boundaries of Ca. The study paints the first comparative picture of the atomic valence photospectra for alkaline earth metallofullerenes in a dynamical many-electron framework. PACS. 61.48.-c Structure of fullerenes and related hollow and planar molecular structures -33.80.Eh Autoionization, photoionization, and photodetachment -36.40.Cg Electronic and magnetic properties of clusters