Experimental and Theoretical Evidence for Long-Lived Molecular Hydrogen Anions H^{-}_{2} and D^{-}_{2}

Article

Experimental and Theoretical Evidence for Long-Lived Molecular Hydrogen Anions H^{-}_{2} and D^{-}_{2}

Golser, R.; Gnaser, H.; Kutschera, W.; Priller, A.; Steier, P.; Wallner, A.; Čížek, M.; Horáček, J.; Domcke, W.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 94(0), 223003-+ (2005)

Abstract

The existence of (metastable) molecular hydrogen anions H2-, D2-, and H3- is demonstrated. These anion species were produced by sputtering of TiH2 and TiD2 targets with Cs+ ions and were identified by accelerator mass spectrometry. From the respective flight times through the spectrometer, lifetimes for H2- and D2- of at least 3 us and 4 us, respectively, can be inferred. Theoretical calculations within the nonlocal resonance model predict the existence of highly rotationally excited anions with lifetimes in the us range. It is proposed that in sputtering molecular hydrogen species with high rotational and vibrational excitation are formed that are stable on the time scale of the experiment.

Institute authors

Supported by

GACR 202/03/D112 — Dynamics of molecular collisions with inclusion of electron continuum

BibTeX

@article{UTF113,
  author        = {Golser, R. and Gnaser, H. and Kutschera, W. and Priller, A. and Steier, P. and Wallner, A. and Čížek, M. and Horáček, J. and Domcke, W.},
  title         = {{Experimental and Theoretical Evidence for Long-Lived Molecular Hydrogen Anions H\textasciicircum{}\{-\}\_\{2\} and D\textasciicircum{}\{-\}\_\{2\}}},
  journal       = {Phys. Rev. Lett.},
  volume        = {94},
  number        = {0},
  pages         = {223003-+},
  year          = {2005},
  doi           = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.223003},
  url           = {http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v94/e223003},
}