Energy and temperature dependencies for electron-induced sputtering from H$_2$O-ice: Implications for the icy Galilean moons

TL;DR

This study measures how electron energy and temperature affect water ice sputtering yields, revealing electrons' significant role in exosphere formation on icy moons like Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on electron-induced sputtering yields across various energies and temperatures, and improves existing sputtering models for better accuracy.

Findings

Sputtering yields increase with decreasing electron energy.

Yields rise rapidly above 60 K temperature.

Electrons contribute equally to O₂ exosphere production on Europa.

Abstract

To better assess the role that electrons play in exosphere production on icy-rich bodies, we measured the total and O$_2$ sputtering yields from H$_2$O-ice for electrons with energies between 0.75 and 10 keV and temperatures between 15 and 124.5 K. We find that both total and O$_2$ yields increase with decreasing energy over our studied range, increase rapidly at temperatures above 60 K, and that the relative amount of H$_2$O in the sputtered flux decreases quickly with increasing energy. Combining our data with other electron data in literature, we show that the accuracy of a widely used sputtering model can be improved significantly for electrons by adjusting some of the intrinsic parameter values. Applying our results to Europa, we estimate that electrons contribute to the production of the O$_2$ exosphere equally to all ion types combined. In contrast, sputtering of O$_2$ from Ganymede and Callisto appears to be dominated by irradiating ions, though electrons still likely contribute a non-negligible amount. While our estimates could be further refined by examining the importance of spatial variations in electron flux, we conclude that, at the very least, electrons seem to be important for exosphere production on icy surfaces and should be included in future modeling efforts.