Influence of Selective Carbon 1s Excitation on Auger–Meitner Decay in the ESCA Molecule

Two-dimensional spectral mapping is used to visualize how resonant Auger–Meitner spectra are influenced by the site of the initial core–electron excitation and the symmetry of the core-excited state in the trifluoroethyl acetate molecule (ESCA). We observe a significant enhancement of electron yield for excitation of the COO 1s → π* and CF₃ 1s → σ* resonances unlike excitation at resonances involving the CH₃ and CH₂ sites. The CF₃ 1s → π* and CF₃ 1s → σ* resonance spectra are very different from each other, with the latter populating most valence states equally. Two complementary electronic structure calculations for the photoelectron cross section and Auger–Meitner intensity are shown to effectively reproduce the site- and state-selective nature of the resonant enhancement features. The site of the core–electron excitation and the respective final state hole locality increase the sensistivity of the photoelectron signal at specific functional group sites. This showcases resonant Auger–Meitner decay as a potentially powerful tool for selectively probing structural changes at specific functional group sites of polyatomic molecules.