X-Ray absorption measured in the resonant auger scattering mode

We report both experimental and theoretical studies on x-ray absorption measured in the resonant Auger scattering mode of gas phase carbon monoxide near the O1s→2π region. Both experiment and theory display a crucial difference between the x-ray absorption profiles obtained in the conventional and resonant scattering modes. Lifetime vibrational interference is the main source of the difference. It is demonstrated that such interference, which arises from a coherent excitation to overlapping intermediate levels, ruins the idea for obtaining x-ray absorption spectra in a lifetime broadening free regime.