Sep 20 – 25, 2026
Prestige Lakeside Resort Nelson
America/Vancouver timezone
Registration and Abstract submission is OPEN

Validation of the Formation of Negative Methane Ions.

Sep 24, 2026, 3:15 PM
20m
Conference Room (Prestige Lakeside Resort Nelson)

Conference Room

Prestige Lakeside Resort Nelson

Speaker

Guillermo G. Hinojosa Aguirre (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

Description

We present the discovery and confirmation of a new negative molecular species, the CH$_4^−$ anion. The experimental realization of this high-spin exciplex was challenging because it overlaps at $m/q = -1$ with O$^-$, commonly present as a pollutant in vacuum systems. Electron detachment cross section (EDCS) showed diametrical differences with O$^-$ EDCS, this leaded to the hypotheses of negative methane which is not supposed to exist. Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations finally revealed that this anion is a quartet ($S = 3/2$) metastable species, which leads to the formation of a molecular (CH$_2$ : H$_2$ )$^−$ excited complex.

Email address hinojosa@icf.unam.mx
Funding Agency UNAM-PAPIIT-IN100426, SECIHTI-CF-2023-I-918.
Visitor's Visa yes
Classification Fundamental processes and modelling
Footnote Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 23 (2014) , Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 056001 (2020).

Author

Guillermo G. Hinojosa Aguirre (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico)

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