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Chromium (Cr) atoms embedded into helium nanodroplets (HeN) are ejected from the droplets upon photoexcitation. During ejection they undergo electronic relaxation resulting in bare Cr atoms in various excited states. In a study of the relaxation process we present absorption spectra observed via laser induced fluorescence and beam depletion as well as dispersed fluorescence spectra and time-resolved fluorescence measurements. Broad and shifted absorption structures were found for the strong z7P° ← a7S3 and y7P° ← a7S3 excitations from the ground state. Emission lines are, in contrast, very narrow, which indicates that fluorescence is obtained from bare excited Cr atoms after ejection. Upon excitation into the y7P2,3,4° states we observed fluorescence from y7P2°, z5P1,2,3°, and z7P2,3,4°, indicating that these states are populated by electronic relaxation during the ejection processes. Relative population ratios are obtained from the intensities of individual spectral lines. Excitation into the z7P2,3,4° states resulted in fluorescence only from z7P2°. Estimates of the time duration of the ejection process are obtained from time-resolved measurements.

We investigate the photoinduced relaxation dynamics of Cr atoms embedded into superfluid helium nanodroplets. One- and two-color resonant two-photon ionization (1CR2PI and 2CR2PI, respectively) are applied to study the two strong ground state transitions z7P2,3,4° ← a7S3 and y7P2,3,4° ← a7S3. Upon photoexcitation, Cr* atoms are ejected from the droplet in various excited states, as well as paired with helium atoms as Cr*–Hen exciplexes. For the y7P2,3,4° intermediate state, comparison of the two methods reveals that energetically lower states than previously identified are also populated. With 1CR2PI we find that the population of ejected z5P3° states is reduced for increasing droplet size, indicating that population is transferred preferentially to lower states during longer interaction with the droplet. In the 2CR2PI spectra we find evidence for generation of bare Cr atoms in their septet ground state (a7S3) and metastable quintet state (a5S2), which we attribute to a photoinduced fast excitation–relaxation cycle mediated by the droplet. A fraction of Cr atoms in these ground and metastable states is attached to helium atoms, as indicated by blue wings next to bare atom spectral lines. These relaxation channels provide new insight into the interaction of excited transition metal atoms with helium nanodroplets.

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We have investigated photoinduced chemical reaction dynamics of cold, isolated Cr2 molecules in helium nanodroplets (HeN), exploiting the quantum state specific spatial separation of solvated and surface locations on the droplet. The molecules are excited to achieve dissociation to a ground state (a(7)S3) and a metastable state (a(5)S2) atom. State specific spatial separation, in combination with efficient translational cooling to avoid ejection, causes the ground state atom to be solvated inside the droplet while the metastable atom migrates to the surface. A barrier between the two reactants formed by the HeN prevents recombination. We apply a resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization scheme including the y(5)P°(1,2,3) <-- a(5)S(2) transition of the surface atom as well as a two-laser scheme including the y(7)P°(2,3,4) <-- a(7)S(3) transition of the solvated atom in order to verify the locations and separation of the dissociation products. Furthermore, ionization of the a(5)S2 surface atom triggers solvation followed by geminate recombination with the a(7)S3 atom, which is verified by the detection of Cr2(+) molecular ions. For small Cr clusters, our results indicate that they may be composed of chromium dimers that exhibit the same dissociation behavior.