Abstract
A variety of oxygen-containing diatomic dications, XO2+ can be produced in the gas phase by prolonged high-current O-16(-) ion surface bombardment [oxygen ion beam sputtering] of a wide range of sample materials. These gas-phase species were detected by mass spectrometry at half-integer m/z values for ion flight times of the order of similar to 10(-5)s.
Examples provided here include ion mass spectra of AsO2+, GaO2+, SbO2+, AgO2+, CrO2+ and BeO2+. A detailed theoretical study of the diatomic dication system BeO2+, is also presented.