Characterization of low-lying electronic states of CO²⁺

A new and elaborate set of high-level ab initio bound-state computations has been undertaken to obtain the various low-lying excited electronic states of doubly charged CO2+ ion, using the multireference single and double excitations configuration interaction (MRDCI) method. The characteristics and shapes of the potential energy curves are discussed to elucidate the metastable character of CO2+ ion. The results are discussed and compared with earlier theoretical and experimental results.