Electronic states and decay mechanisms of the N2O2+ dication

Energies of the electronic states of the triatomic dication N2O2+ in the Franck–Condon zone of neutral N2O have been determined by a combination of (1) double charge transfer spectroscopy to locate singlet states, (2) photoionization measurements to locate the lowest triplet state, and (3) configuration-interaction calculations to identify the states and to predict the energies of other triplets. It seems likely that two distinct charge separation reactions compete in the relatively slow decay of the N2O2+ ground state.