348 research outputs found
Quantification of segregation dynamics in ice mixtures
(Abridged) The observed presence of pure CO2 ice in protostellar envelopes is
attributed to thermally induced ice segregation, but a lack of quantitative
experimental data has prevented its use as a temperature probe. Quantitative
segregation studies are also needed to characterize diffusion in ices, which
underpins all ice dynamics and ice chemistry. This study aims to quantify the
segregation mechanism and barriers in different H2O:CO2 and H2O:CO ice mixtures
covering a range of astrophysically relevant ice thicknesses and mixture
ratios. The ices are deposited at 16-50 K under (ultra-)high vacuum conditions.
Segregation is then monitored at 23-70 K as a function of time, through
infrared spectroscopy. Thin (8-37 ML) H2O:CO2/CO ice mixtures segregate
sequentially through surface processes, followed by an order of magnitude
slower bulk diffusion. Thicker ices (>100 ML) segregate through a fast bulk
process. The thick ices must therefore be either more porous or segregate
through a different mechanism, e.g. a phase transition. The segregation
dynamics of thin ices are reproduced qualitatively in Monte Carlo simulations
of surface hopping and pair swapping. The experimentally determined
surface-segregation rates for all mixture ratios follow the Ahrrenius law with
a barrier of 1080[190] K for H2O:CO2 and 300[100] K for H2O:CO mixtures. During
low-mass star formation H2O:CO2 segregation will be important already at 30[5]
K. Both surface and bulk segregation is proposed to be a general feature of ice
mixtures when the average bond strengths of the mixture constituents in pure
ice exceeds the average bond strength in the ice mixture.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 25 pages, including 13 figure
Laboratory H2O:CO2 ice desorption data: entrapment dependencies and its parameterization with an extended three-phase model
Ice desorption affects the evolution of the gas-phase chemistry during the
protostellar stage, and also determines the chemical composition of comets
forming in circumstellar disks. From observations, most volatile species are
found in H2O-dominated ices. The aim of this study is first to experimentally
determine how entrapment of volatiles in H2O ice depends on ice thickness,
mixture ratio and heating rate, and second, to introduce an extended
three-phase model (gas, ice surface and ice mantle) to describe ice mixture
desorption with a minimum number of free parameters. Thermal H2O:CO2 ice
desorption is investigated in temperature programmed desorption experiments of
thin (10 - 40 ML) ice mixtures under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Desorption
is simultaneously monitored by mass spectrometry and reflection-absorption
infrared spectroscopy. The H2O:CO2 experiments are complemented with selected
H2O:CO, and H2O:CO2:CO experiments. The results are modeled with rate equations
that connect the gas, ice surface and ice mantle phases through surface
desorption and mantle-surface diffusion. The fraction of trapped CO2 increases
with ice thickness (10 - 32 ML) and H2O:CO2 mixing ratio (5:1 - 10:1), but not
with one order of magnitude different heating rates. The fraction of trapped
CO2 is 44 - 84 % with respect to the initial CO2 content for the investigated
experimental conditions. This is reproduced quantitatively by the extended
three-phase model that is introduced here. The H2O:CO and H2O:CO2:CO
experiments are consistent with the H2O:CO2 desorption trends, suggesting that
the model can be used for other ice species found in the interstellar medium to
significantly improve the parameterization of ice desorption.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, published in A&
Field-Dependent Tilt and Birefringence of Electroclinic Liquid Crystals: Theory and Experiment
An unresolved issue in the theory of liquid crystals is the molecular basis
of the electroclinic effect in the smectic-A phase. Recent x-ray scattering
experiments suggest that, in a class of siloxane-containing liquid crystals, an
electric field changes a state of disordered molecular tilt in random
directions into a state of ordered tilt in one direction. To investigate this
issue, we measure the optical tilt and birefringence of these liquid crystals
as functions of field and temperature, and we develop a theory for the
distribution of molecular orientations under a field. Comparison of theory and
experiment confirms that these materials have a disordered distribution of
molecular tilt directions that is aligned by an electric field, giving a large
electroclinic effect. It also shows that the net dipole moment of a correlated
volume of molecules, a key parameter in the theory, scales as a power law near
the smectic-A--smectic-C transition.Comment: 18 pages, including 9 postscript figures, uses REVTeX 3.0 and
epsf.st
Effects of CO2 on H2O band profiles and band strengths in mixed H2O:CO2 ices
H2O is the most abundant component of astrophysical ices. In most lines of
sight it is not possible to fit both the H2O 3 um stretching, the 6 um bending
and the 13 um libration band intensities with a single pure H2O spectrum.
Recent Spitzer observations have revealed CO2 ice in high abundances and it has
been suggested that CO2 mixed into H2O ice can affect relative strengths of the
3 um and 6 um bands. We used laboratory infrared transmission spectroscopy of
H2O:CO2 ice mixtures to investigate the effects of CO2 on H2O ice spectral
features at 15-135 K. We find that the H2O peak profiles and band strengths are
significantly different in H2O:CO2 ice mixtures compared to pure H2O ice. In
all H2O:CO2 mixtures, a strong free-OH stretching band appears around 2.73 um,
which can be used to put an upper limit on the CO2 concentration in the H2O
ice. The H2O bending mode profile also changes drastically with CO2
concentration; the broad pure H2O band gives way to two narrow bands as the CO2
concentration is increased. This makes it crucial to constrain the environment
of H2O ice to enable correct assignments of other species contributing to the
interstellar 6 um absorption band. The amount of CO2 present in the H2O ice of
B5:IRS1 is estimated by simultaneously comparing the H2O stretching and bending
regions and the CO2 bending mode to laboratory spectra of H2O, CO2, H2O:CO2 and
HCOOH.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted by A&
Intrinsic nanoscale inhomogeneity in ordering systems due to elastic-mediated interactions
Phase diagram and pattern formation in two-dimensional Ising model with
coupling between order parameter and lattice vibrations is investigated by
Monte-Carlo simulations. It is shown that if the coupling is strong enough (or
phonons are soft enough) a short-range order exists in disordered phase for a
broader temperature interval. Different types of this short-range order
(stripe-like, checkboard-like, etc.) depending on the temperature and model
parameters are investigated. With further increase of the coupling, a
reconstruction of the ground state happens and new ordered phases appear at low
enough temperatures.Comment: final version, Europhys. Lett., accepte
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