UV photoprocessing of NH3 ice: photon-induced desorption mechanisms

TL;DR

This study investigates how UV radiation affects ammonia ice in space, revealing photodesorption mechanisms and quantifying yields of molecules released into space, which impacts astrochemical models.

Contribution

It provides the first quantification of photodesorption yields of NH3, H2, and N2 from ammonia ice under astrophysical UV conditions, highlighting indirect desorption processes.

Findings

Photodesorption yield of NH3 is approximately 2.1 x 10^-3 molecules per photon.

Photodesorption of H2 and N2 increases with UV fluence, indicating indirect mechanisms.

Photodesorption yields of N2 are similar to those of NH3 after space-relevant fluence.

Abstract

Ice mantles detected on the surface of dust grains toward the coldest regions of the interstellar medium can be photoprocessed by the secondary ultraviolet (UV) field present in dense cloud interiors. In this work, we present UV-irradiation experiments under astrophysically relevant conditions of pure NH3 ice samples in an ultra-high vacuum chamber where solid samples were deposited onto a substrate at 8 K. The ice analogs were subsequently photoprocessed with a microwave-discharged hydrogen- flow lamp. The induced radiation and photochemistry led to the production of H2, N2 and N2H4. In addition, photodesorption to the gas phase of the original ice component, NH3, and two of the three detected photoproducts, H2 and N2, was observed thanks to a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS). Calibration of the QMS allowed quantifica- tion of the photodesorption yields, leading to Ypd(NH3)=2.1+2.1-1.0 x 10^-3 molecules per incident photon, which remained constant during the whole experiments, while photodesorption of H2 and N2 increased with fluence, pointing toward an indirect photodesorption mecha- nism involving energy transfer for these species. Photodesorption yield of N2 molecules after a fluence equivalent to that experienced by ice mantles in space was similar to that of the NH3 molecules (Ypd (N2) = 1.7+1.7-0.9 x 10^-3 molecules incident photon ).