The “Foil-Mesh” method for measuring mean lifetimes of long-lived molecular ions

Reexamining if long-livedN−anions are produced in fast dissociative electron-capture collisions

“…To distinguish between atomic and molecular ions following the same trajectory (i.e., having the same E / q) we used the "foil-mesh" method described in detail elsewhere [20][21][22]. Briefly, a thin foil is placed on the trajectory of the ion of interest a few centimeters in front of the detector and the detector is covered with a low transmission mesh (about 30%).…”

“…If this is the case, then, dissociative charge exchange will become the first possible mechanism for forming such exotic atomic states. In the measurements reported in this paper, we took advantage of the improved energy resolution of particle detectors and used a few recently reported experimental methods that can help one distinguish between an atomic and molecular ion [20][21][22].…”

Three-dimensional momentum imaging of dissociation in flight of metastable molecules

“…The lifetimes of these transient systems are governed by the relevant potential energy landscape and the mechanisms responsible for decay, which can include tunneling, predissociation, and radiative decay to repulsive states. Investigating the formation, properties, and decay of these metastable molecular ions experimentally and theoretically has been a prominent field of research (see review papers [10][11][12] and [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], for example).…”