Stability and Cooling of the C_{7}

We have studied the stability of the smallest long-lived all carbon molecular dianion (C_{7}^{2-}) in new time domains and with a single ion at a time using a cryogenic electrostatic ion-beam storage ring. We observe spontaneous electron emission from internally excited dianions on millisecond timescales and monitor the survival of single colder C_{7}^{2-} molecules on much longer timescales. We find that their intrinsic lifetime exceeds several minutes-6 orders of magnitude longer than established from earlier experiments on C_{7}^{2-}. This is consistent with our calculations of vertical electron detachment energies predicting one inherently stable isomer and one isomer which is stable or effectively stable behind a large Coulomb barrier for C_{7}^{2-}→C_{7}^{-}+e^{-} separation.

Structure and stability of the negative hydrogen molecular ion.

We present the results of a Coulomb explosion experiment that allows for the imaging of the rovibrational wave function of the metastable H2- ion. Our measurements confirm the predicted large internuclear separation of 6 a.u., and they show that the ion decays by autodetachment rather than by spontaneous dissociation. Imaging of the resulting H2 products reveals a large angular momentum of J = 25 ± 2, quantifying the rotation that leads to the metastability of this most fundamental molecular anion.

Analysis of solids with a secondary-neutral microprobe based on electron-gas post-ionization.

The detection sensitivity and the lateral resolution in electron-gas SNMS have been improved in a newly developed secondary-neutral microprobe. This instrument combines the high post-ionization efficiency provided by the electron component of an rf-plasma (post-ionization probability alpha(0) of some 10(-2)) with a high-transmission magnetic mass spectrometer. Using the plasma as an effective primary ion source, secondary-neutral intensities of up to 10(9) cps can be realized for 1 keV Ar(+) ion bombardment and a primary current density of 1 mA/cm(2). To obtain laterally resolved secondary-neutral micrographs, a 20 keV-Ga(+)-ion beam produced in a liquid-metal ion source (LMIS) is utilized for sputter excitation. At Ga(+)-ion-beam currents of about 6 nA a spot size on the target of 1 microm is possible. The detection sensitivity in this operation mode is on the order of

Experimental and theoretical evidence for long-lived molecular hydrogen anions H2- and D2-.

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 micros and 4 micros, respectively, can be inferred. Theoretical calculations within the nonlocal resonance model predict the existence of highly rotationally excited anions with lifetimes in the micros 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.