A reinterpretation of the observed metastability of NeH

The metastability of 20NeH and 20NeD previously identified by neutralized ion beam studies in this laboratory has been confirmed by the observation of metastability for 22NeH and 22NeD in a similar study. A lifetime of τ≥10 μs is determined for the metastable states which are tentatively identified as Rydberg levels of intermediate n(n≤14) and possibly high l. The discrepancy between our previously measured dissociative kinetic energy release for 20NeD and that of Peterson et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 91, 6880 (1989)] is resolved.