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Register a new userWavelength-dependent UV photodesorption of pure N2 and O2 ices
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Ultraviolet photodesorption of molecules from icy interstellar grains can explain observations of cold gas in regions where thermal desorption is negligible. This non-thermal desorption mechanism should be especially important where UV fluxes are high. N2 and O2 are expected to play key roles in astrochemical reaction networks, both in the solid state and in the gas phase. Measurements of the wavelength-dependent photodesorption rates of these two infrared-inactive molecules provide astronomical and physical-chemical insights into the conditions required for their photodesorption. Tunable radiation from the DESIRS beamline at the SOLEIL synchrotron in the astrophysically relevant 7 to 13.6 eV range is used to irradiate pure N2 and O2 thin ice films. Photodesorption of molecules is monitored through quadrupole mass spectrometry. Absolute rates are calculated by using the well-calibrated CO photodesorption rates. Strategic N2 and O2 isotopolog mixtures are used to investigate the importance of dissociation upon irradiation. N2 photodesorption mainly occurs through excitation of the b^1Pi_u state and subsequent desorption of surface molecules. The observed vibronic structure in the N2 photodesorption spectrum, together with the absence of N3 formation, supports that the photodesorption mechanism of N2 is similar to CO, i.e., an indirect DIET (Desorption Induced by Electronic Transition) process without dissociation of the desorbing molecule. In contrast, O2 photodesorption in the 7 - 13.6 eV range occurs through dissociation and presents no vibrational structure. Photodesorption rates of N2 and O2 integrated over the far-UV field from various star-forming environments are lower than for CO. Rates vary between 10E-3 and 10E-2 photodesorbed molecules per incoming photon.
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Context. Methane is among the main components of the ice mantles of insterstellar dust grains, where it is at the start of a rich solid-phase chemical network. Quantification of the photon-induced desorption yield of these frozen molecules and understanding of the underlying processes is necessary to accurately model the observations and the chemical evolution of various regions of the interstellar medium. Aims. This study aims at experimentally determining absolute photodesorption yields for the CH4 molecule as a function of photon energy. The influence of the ice composition is also investigated. By studying the methane desorption from layered CH4:CO ice, indirect desorption processes triggered by the excitation of the CO molecules is monitored and quantified. Methods. Tunable monochromatic VUV light from the DESIRS beamline of the SOLEIL synchrotron is used in the 7 - 13.6 eV (177 - 91 nm) range to irradiate pure CH4 or layers of CH4 deposited on top of CO ice samples. The release of species in the gas phase is monitored by quadrupole mass spectrometry and absolute photodesorption yields of intact CH4 are deduced. Results. CH4 photodesorbs for photon energies higher than ~9.1 eV (~136 nm). The photodesorption spectrum follows the absorption spectrum of CH4, which confirms a desorption mechanism mediated by electronic transitions in the ice. When it is deposited on top of CO, CH4 desorbs between 8 and 9 eV with a pattern characteristic of CO absorption, indicating desorption induced by energy transfer from CO molecules. Conclusions. The photodesorption of CH4 from the pure ice in various interstellar environments is around 2.0 x 10^-3 molecules per incident photon. Results on CO-induced indirect desorption of CH4 provide useful insights for the generalization of this process to other molecules co-existing with CO in ice mantles.
Wavelength dependent photodesorption rates have been determined using synchrotron radiation, for condensed pure and mixed methanol ice in the 7 -- 14 eV range. The VUV photodesorption of intact methanol molecules from pure methanol ices is found to be of the order of 10$^{-5}$ molecules/photon, that is two orders of magnitude below what is generally used in astrochemical models. This rate gets even lower ($<$ 10$^{-6}$ molecules/photon) when the methanol is mixed with CO molecules in the ices. This is consistent with a picture in which photodissociation and recombination processes are at the origin of intact methanol desorption from pure CH$_3$OH ices. Such low rates are explained by the fact that the overall photodesorption process is dominated by the desorption of the photofragments CO, CH$_3$, OH, H$_2$CO and CH$_3$O/CH$_2$OH, whose photodesorption rates are given in this study. Our results suggest that the role of the photodesorption as a mechanism to explain the observed gas phase abundances of methanol in cold media is probably overestimated. Nevertheless, the photodesorption of radicals from methanol-rich ices may stand at the origin of the gas phase presence of radicals such as CH$_3$O, therefore opening new gas phase chemical routes for the formation of complex molecules.
Non-thermal desorption from icy grains containing H$_2$CO has been invoked to explain the observed H$_2$CO gas phase abundances in ProtoPlanetary Disks (PPDs) and Photon Dominated Regions (PDRs). Photodesorption is thought to play a key role, however no absolute measurement of the photodesorption from H$_2$CO ices were performed up to now, so that a default value is used in the current astrophysical models. As photodesorption yields differ from one molecule to the other, it is crucial to experimentally investigate photodesorption from H$_2$CO ices. We measured absolute wavelength-resolved photodesorption yields from pure H$_2$CO ices, H$_2$CO on top of a CO ice (H$_2$CO/CO), and H$_2$CO mixed with CO ice (H$_2$CO:CO) irradiated in the Vacuum UltraViolet (VUV) range (7-13.6~eV). Photodesorption from a pure H$_2$CO ice releases H$_2$CO in the gas phase, but also fragments, such as CO and H$_2$. Energy-resolved photodesorption spectra, coupled with InfraRed (IR) and Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) diagnostics, showed the important role played by photodissociation and allowed to discuss photodesorption mechanisms. For the release of H$_2$CO in the gas phase, they include Desorption Induced by Electronic Transitions (DIET), indirect DIET through CO-induced desorption of H$_2$CO and photochemical desorption. We found that H$_2$CO photodesorbs with an average efficiency of $sim 4-10 times 10^{-4}$ molecule/photon, in various astrophysical environments. H$_2$CO and CO photodesorption yields and photodesorption mechanisms, involving photofragmentation of H$_2$CO, can be implemented in astrochemical codes. The effects of photodesorption on gas/solid abundances of H$_2$CO and all linked species from CO to Complex Organic Molecules (COMs), and on the H$_2$CO snowline location, are now on the verge of being unravelled.
Aims. In this paper we investigate the detectability of the molecular oxygen in icy dust grain mantles towards astronomical objects. Methods. We present a systematic set of experiments with O2-H2O ice mixtures designed to disentangle how the molecular ratio affects the O2 signature in the mid- and near-infrared spectral regions. All the experiments were conducted in a closed-cycle helium cryostat coupled to a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The ice mixtures comprise varying thicknesses from 8 $times$ 10$^{-3}$ to 3 $mu$m. The absorption spectra of the O2-H2O mixtures are also compared to the one of pure water. In addition, the possibility to detect the O2 in icy bodies and in the interstellar medium is discussed. Results. We are able to see the O2 feature at 1551 cm$^{-1}$ even for the most diluted mixture of H2O : O2 = 9 : 1, comparable to a ratio of O2/H2O = 10 % which has already been detected in situ in the coma of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We provide an estimate for the detection of O2 with the future mission of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
UV ice photodesorption is an important non-thermal desorption pathway in many interstellar environments that has been invoked to explain observations of cold molecules in disks, clouds and cloud cores. Systematic laboratory studies of the photodesorption rates, between 7 and 14 eV, from CO:N2 binary ices, have been performed at the DESIRS vacuum UV beamline of the synchrotron facility SOLEIL. The photodesorption spectral analysis demonstrates that the photodesorption process is indirect, i.e. the desorption is induced by a photon absorption in sub-surface molecular layers, while only surface molecules are actually desorbing. The photodesorption spectra of CO and N2 in binary ices therefore depend on the absorption spectra of the dominant species in the subsurface ice layer, which implies that the photodesorption efficiency and energy dependence are dramatically different for mixed and layered ices compared to pure ices. In particular, a thin (1-2 ML) N2 ice layer on top of CO will effectively quench CO photodesorption, while enhancing N2 photodesorption by a factors of a few (compared to the pure ices) when the ice is exposed to a typical dark cloud UV field, which may help to explain the different distributions of CO and N2H+ in molecular cloud cores. This indirect photodesorption mechanism may also explain observations of small amounts of complex organics in cold interstellar environments.
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