ELECTRON DYNAMICS IN STRONGLY EXCITED SODIUM CLUSTERS - A DENSITY-FUNCTIONAL STUDY WITH SELF-INTERACTION CORRECTION

We study the linear and nonlinear electron dynamics of a Na-9(+) clust er using time-dependent density functional theory. Exchange-correlatio n (xc) effects are treated in the adiabatic local density approximatio n with and without self-interaction correction (SIC). The latter is im plemented within the time-dependent optimized effective potential meth od, leading to a self-interaction-free re potential which is orbital i ndependent. The method is applied to compare the electronic response o f the cluster, calculated with and without SIG, in different dynamical regimes. We focus on the dipole response in the weakly excited regime , and on multiphoton ionization induced by strong femtosecond laser pu lses. It is found that including SIC produces minor differences in the dipole power spectra and leaves the ionization mechanism essentially unchanged.