High-resolution translational energy spectroscopy of CO2+

Abstract

The high-resolution translational energy spectrum of 6 keV CO2+ scattered off Ne and the energy change spectrum of single-electron capture by the same ion in collision with a Ne target are presented. Both the spectra and the dependence of the observed reaction channels on the ionising electron energy clearly show that only ground-state CO2+(3 Pi ) and possibly CO2+(1 Sigma +) ions live long enough ( approximately 1 mu s) to reach the target cell. The excited state at 1.7 eV above the CO2+(3 Pi ) ground state reported recently is not observed. The double ionisation energy of CO is measured to be 41.76+or-0.1 eV.