First Laboratory Detection of Vibration-Rotation Transitions of 12CH+ and 13CH+ and Improved Measurement of their Rotational Transition Frequencies

The long-searched C-H stretches of the fundamental ions CH+ and 13CH+ have been observed for the first time in the laboratory. For this, the state-dependent attachment of He atoms to these ions at cryogenic temperatures has been exploited to obtain high-resolution rovibrational data. In addition, the lowest rotational transitions of CH+, 13CH+ and CD+ have been revisited and their rest frequency values improved substantially.