Measurements of the mean lifetime and kinetic-energy release of metastableCO2+ - art. no. 032509

We present a method that allows state-selective measurement of the lifetime of metastable doubly charged molecular ions. The method is based on the si multaneous measurement of kinetic-energy release upon dissociation and life time and relies on three-dimensional fragment imaging. The experimental det ermination of the energy and lifetime of a vibrational state provides a str ingent test for the theory. Using this method, we have measured the lifetim e of two vibrational states of (CO2+)-C-12-O-16. Explicitly, tau =670+/-150 ns and tau =26+/-5 ns were measured for the states with E-k=5.713 eV and E -k=5.841 eV, respectively. The measured mean lifetimes and kinetic-energy r eleases are consistent with previous measurements, and the results indicate that further theoretical work is required.