TRANSLATIONAL ENERGY SPECTROMETRY OF QUANTUM-STATE-SELECTED ELECTRON-CAPTURE BY METASTABLE CO2+ IONS

Results are reported of a translational energy spectrometric study of state-selected electron-capture reactions between metastable CO2+ ions and H2, He, O2, and Kr. The experimental data are interpreted within the framework of recent ab initio calculations of the potential-energy curves of low-lying electronic states of CO2+. Electron capture is found to occur predominantly into moderately exoergic channels corresponding to avoided crossings of seams of potential-energy surfaces in the range of internuclear separations between 3 and 5 a.u. Some evidence is found that the CO2+ projectile beam may comprise not only the +1 ground electronic state but may also possess a not-insignificant long-lived excited-state (3 ) component. © 1990 The American Physical Society.