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Abstract

In recent years it was demonstrated that the negative hydrogen molecular ions H2− and D2− exist in long-lived states with lifetimes exceeding 1 μs (H2−) and 1 ms (D2−). These metastable ions exhibit very large internuclear distances and possess high angular momenta, which stabilizes them against autodetachment. Here we present the results of a foil-induced Coulomb explosion imaging experiment that allows for the measurement of the rovibrational wave functions of the metastable D2− ions. We compare our results to previous predictions from a nonlocal resonance theory. Our measurements do not confirm the discrepancy between experiment and theory that was inferred from previous photofragmentation studies. In fact, we find good agreement between the experiment and calculated wave functions for the most long-lived states with rotational quantum numbers J=37 and 38.