Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering
We present a dedicated experimental study of microscopic mechanisms controlling radiolysis and sputtering of astrophysical ices upon bombardment by cosmic-ray ions. Such ions are slowed down owing to inelastic collisions with bound electrons, resulting in ionization and excitation of ice molecules....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb545 |
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| author | Alexei V. Ivlev Barbara M. Giuliano Zoltán Juhász Péter Herczku Béla Sulik Duncan V. Mifsud Sándor T. S. Kovács K. K. Rahul Richárd Rácz Sándor Biri István Rajta István Vajda Nigel J. Mason Sergio Ioppolo Paola Caselli |
| author_facet | Alexei V. Ivlev Barbara M. Giuliano Zoltán Juhász Péter Herczku Béla Sulik Duncan V. Mifsud Sándor T. S. Kovács K. K. Rahul Richárd Rácz Sándor Biri István Rajta István Vajda Nigel J. Mason Sergio Ioppolo Paola Caselli |
| author_sort | Alexei V. Ivlev |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present a dedicated experimental study of microscopic mechanisms controlling radiolysis and sputtering of astrophysical ices upon bombardment by cosmic-ray ions. Such ions are slowed down owing to inelastic collisions with bound electrons, resulting in ionization and excitation of ice molecules. In experiments on CO ice irradiation, we show that the relative contribution of these two mechanisms of energy loss to molecule destruction and sputtering can be probed by selecting ion energies near the peak of the electronic stopping power. We have observed a significant asymmetry, in both the destruction cross section and the sputtering yield, for pairs of ion energies corresponding to the same values of the stopping power on either side of the peak. This implies that the stopping power does not solely control these processes, as usually assumed in the literature. Our results suggest that electronic excitations represent a significantly more efficient channel for radiolysis and, likely, for sputtering of CO ice. We also show that the charge state of incident ions and the rate for CO ^+ production in the ice have a negligible effect on these processes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:37:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ae705b2106c0457a8e6ba92d55b5d721 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:37:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae705b2106c0457a8e6ba92d55b5d7212023-09-03T09:55:18ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-01944218110.3847/1538-4357/acb545Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and SputteringAlexei V. Ivlev0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1590-1018Barbara M. Giuliano1Zoltán Juhász2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3612-0437Péter Herczku3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1046-1375Béla Sulik4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8088-5766Duncan V. Mifsud5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0379-354XSándor T. S. Kovács6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5332-3901K. K. Rahul7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5914-7061Richárd Rácz8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2938-7483Sándor Biri9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2609-9729István Rajta10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5140-2574István Vajda11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7116-9442Nigel J. Mason12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4468-8324Sergio Ioppolo13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2271-1781Paola Caselli14https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1481-7911Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik , D-85748 Garching, Germany ; ivlev@mpe.mpg.deMax-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik , D-85748 Garching, Germany ; ivlev@mpe.mpg.deInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, Hungary; Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kent , Canterbury CT2 7NH, UKInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, HungaryInstitute for Nuclear Research (Atomki) , P.O. Box 51, H-4026 Debrecen, Hungary; Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kent , Canterbury CT2 7NH, UKSchool of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London , London E1 4NS, UK; Centre for Interstellar Catalysis (InterCat), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University , DK-8000 Aarhus, DenmarkMax-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik , D-85748 Garching, Germany ; ivlev@mpe.mpg.deWe present a dedicated experimental study of microscopic mechanisms controlling radiolysis and sputtering of astrophysical ices upon bombardment by cosmic-ray ions. Such ions are slowed down owing to inelastic collisions with bound electrons, resulting in ionization and excitation of ice molecules. In experiments on CO ice irradiation, we show that the relative contribution of these two mechanisms of energy loss to molecule destruction and sputtering can be probed by selecting ion energies near the peak of the electronic stopping power. We have observed a significant asymmetry, in both the destruction cross section and the sputtering yield, for pairs of ion energies corresponding to the same values of the stopping power on either side of the peak. This implies that the stopping power does not solely control these processes, as usually assumed in the literature. Our results suggest that electronic excitations represent a significantly more efficient channel for radiolysis and, likely, for sputtering of CO ice. We also show that the charge state of incident ions and the rate for CO ^+ production in the ice have a negligible effect on these processes.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb545Cosmic raysAstrochemistryLaboratory astrophysics |
| spellingShingle | Alexei V. Ivlev Barbara M. Giuliano Zoltán Juhász Péter Herczku Béla Sulik Duncan V. Mifsud Sándor T. S. Kovács K. K. Rahul Richárd Rácz Sándor Biri István Rajta István Vajda Nigel J. Mason Sergio Ioppolo Paola Caselli Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering The Astrophysical Journal Cosmic rays Astrochemistry Laboratory astrophysics |
| title | Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering |
| title_full | Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering |
| title_fullStr | Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering |
| title_short | Bombardment of CO Ice by Cosmic Rays. I. Experimental Insights into the Microphysics of Molecule Destruction and Sputtering |
| title_sort | bombardment of co ice by cosmic rays i experimental insights into the microphysics of molecule destruction and sputtering |
| topic | Cosmic rays Astrochemistry Laboratory astrophysics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb545 |
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