Comprehensive laboratory constraints on thermal desorption of interstellar ice analogues

¹ Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
e-mail: fkrucz@mpe.mpg.de
² CY Cergy Paris Université, Observatoire de Paris, PSL University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, LERMA, 95000, Cergy, France
³ Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Gießenbachstraße 1, Garching 85748, Germany
⁴ Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France

Received: 19 May 2023
Accepted: 13 February 2024

Abstract

Context. Gas accretion and sublimation in various astrophysical conditions are crucial aspects of our understanding of the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium. To explain grain growth and destruction in warm media, ice mantle formation and sublimation in cold media, and gas line emission spectroscopy, astrochemical models must mimic the gas--solid abundance ratio. Ice-sublimation mechanisms determine the position of snow lines and the nature of gas emitted by and locked inside planetary bodies in star-forming regions. To interpret observations from the interplanetary and extragalactic interstellar mediums, gas phase abundances must be modelled correctly.

Aims. We provide a collection of thermal desorption data for interstellar ice analogues, aiming to put constraints on the trapping efficiency of water ice, as well as data that can be used to evaluate astrochemical models. We conduct experiments on compact, amorphous H₂O films, involving pure ices as well as binary and ternary mixtures. By manipulating parameters in a controlled way, we generate a set of benchmarks to evaluate both the kinetics and thermodynamics in astrochemical models.

Methods. We conducted temperature-programmed desorption experiments with increasing order of complexity of ice analogues of various chemical compositions and surface coverages using molecular beams in ultrahigh vacuum conditions (1 × 10⁻¹⁰ hPa) and low temperatures (10 K). We provide TPD curves of pure ices made of Ar, CO, CO₂, NH₃, CH₃OH, H₂O, and NH₄⁺HCOO⁻, their binary ice mixtures with compact amorphous H₂O, ternary mixtures of H₂O:CH₃OH:CO, and a water ice made in situ to investigate its trapping mechanisms.

Results. Each experiment includes the experimental parameters, ice desorption kinetics for pure species, and the desorption yield (gas--solid ratio) for ice mixtures. From the desorption yields, we find common trends in the trapping of molecules when their abundance is compared to water: compact amorphous water ices are capable of trapping up to 20% of volatiles (Ar, CO, and CO₂), ~3% of CH₃OH, and ~5% NH₃ in relation to the water content within the ice matrix; ammonium formate is not trapped in the water ice films, and compact amorphous water ice formed in situ has similar trapping capabilities to a compact amorphous water ice deposited using molecular beams.

Conclusions. Deposited or formed in a very compact structure, amorphous water ice of less than 100 layers cannot trap a large fraction of other gases, including CO and CO₂. These desorption yields offer insights into the availability of species that can react and form interstellar complex organic molecules during the warm-up phase of ice mantles. Furthermore, in order to be reliable, gas-grain astrochemical models should be able to reproduce the desorption kinetics and desorption yield presented in our benchmark laboratory experiments.