Production and storage of 2p2 3P ground state O2+ ions from iron oxide targets

2p2 3P ground state O2+ ions are produced by laser ablation of solid Fe2O3 targets and stored in a radio frequency ion trap. The state of the O2+ ions is confirmed by comparing a known charge transfer rate coefficient for ground state O2+ ion and H2 with our measurement. The storage time is estimated to be about 10 s at the vacuum base pressure of 6×10−10 Torr.