22-EPN3-020: Implantation of Oxygen Ions in Titan’s Aerosol Analogues
Visit by Veronique Vuitton and Filip Matuszewski of Institut de Planetologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (France) to to TA2.12 Atomki-Queen’s University Ice Laboratory for Astrochemistry (Hungary).
Dates of visit: 18-22 March 2024
Report Summary: In this TNA visit, we irradiated adenine, an aromatic molecule rich in nitrogen, with low energy oxygen ions. Our general objective was to investigate the effect on the spectral properties and composition of the samples and on the chemical composition of the molecules sputtered in the gas phase.
Films of a few hundred nanometers were prepared using the sublimation/condensation reactor installed on Atomki QUeens Ice Chamber for Laboratory Astrochemistry (AQUIILA). Adenine is commercially available as a powder and was vaporized under low pressure to condense back on MgF2 windows. We irradiated our samples with 10-20 keV OHx+ ion beams generated by the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS).
During the irradiation, the spectral properties of the irradiated samples were tracked in situ by FTIR spectroscopy. The products released during the irradiation were tracked with the residual gas analyzer attached to the AQUIILA chamber.
Ex situ analyses of the irradiated samples are also planned to determine their chemical evolution, especially their degree of oxygenation. The elemental and isotopic compositions will be determined by isotope ratio mass spectrometry (ir-MS), with the main objective to obtain their O/C ratio. The molecular composition of the samples will be obtained through very high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS).
