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Long-Lived Hydrogen Molecular Anions Jiri Horacek Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Mathematics
and Physics, The existence of (metastable) molecular hydrogen anions H2- and D2- is uncertain despite intensive experimental search. Here we present a definitive experimental demonstration of their existence and discuss theoretically their formation. These anion species were produced by sputtering of TiH2 and TiD2 targets with Cs and were identified unambiguously by accelerator mass spectrometry. From the respective flight times through the spectrometer, lifetimes for H2 and D2 of at least 2.7 µs and 3.9 µs, respectively, can be inferred. Theoretical calculations within the non-local resonance model predict the existence of highly rotationally excited anions with lifetimes in the µs 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
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