Secondary ion emission from CO2-H2O ice irradiated by energetic heavy ions

Secondary ion mass spectrometry is used to investigate ion emission from a frozen-gas mixture (T = 80-90 K) of CO2 and H2O bombarded by MeV nitrogen ions and by 252Cf fission fragments (FF). The aim of the experiments is to produce organic molecules in the highly excited material around the nuclear track and to detect them in the flux of sputtered particles. Such sputter processes are known to occur at the icy surfaces of planetary or interstellar objects. Time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry is employed to identify the desorbed ions. Mass spectra of positive and negative ions were taken for several molecular H2O/CO2 ratios. In special, positive ions induced by MeV nitrogen beam were analyzed for 9 and 18% H2O concentrations of the CO2-H2O ice and negative ions for ∼5% H2O. The ion peaks are separated to generate exclusive the spectra of CO2 specific ions, H2O specific ions and hybrid molecular ions, the latter ones corresponding to ions that contain mostly H and C atoms. In the mass range from 10 to 320 u, the latter exhibits 35 positive and 58 negative ions. The total yield of the positive ions is 0.35 and 0.57 ions/impact, respectively, and of negative ions 0.066 ions/impact. Unexpected effects of secondary ion sputtering yields on H2O/CO2 ratio are attributed to the influence of water molecules concentration on the ionization process.