CYANATE ION IN COMPACT AMORPHOUS WATER ICE
- Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, IEM-CSIC, Serrano 121, E-28006 Madrid (Spain)
- Departamento de Fisica Teorica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, E-28050 Madrid (Spain)
- Departamento de Quimica Fisica I, Universidad Complutense, Unidad Asociada UCM-CSIC, E-28040 Madrid (Spain)
The 4.62 {mu}m infrared (2164.5 cm{sup -1}) absorption band, observed in ice mantels toward many young stellar objects, has been mostly attributed to the {nu}{sub 3} (CN stretch) band of OCN{sup -} ions. We present in this work a spectroscopic study of OCN{sup -} ions embedded in compact amorphous ice in a range of concentrations and temperatures relevant to astronomical observations together with quantum mechanical calculations of the {nu}{sub 3} band of OCN{sup -} in various H{sub 2}O environments. The ice samples containing the ions are prepared through hyperquenching of liquid droplets of K{sup +}OCN{sup -} solutions on a substrate at 14 K. The {nu}{sub 3} OCN{sup -} band appears as a broad feature peaking at 4.64 {mu}m with a secondary maximum at 4.54 {mu}m and is much weaker than the corresponding peak in the liquid solution or in the solid salt. A similar weakening is observed for other OCN{sup -} absorption peaks at 7.66 {mu}m (2{nu}{sub 2}) and 8.20 {mu}m ({nu}{sub 1}). The theoretical calculations for the {nu}{sub 3} vibration lead to a range of frequencies spanning the experimentally observed width. This frequency spread could help explain the pronounced drop in the band intensity in the ice. The OCN{sup -} {nu}{sub 3} band in the present compact ices is also broader and much weaker than that reported in the literature for OCN{sup -} ions obtained by variously processing porous ice samples containing suitable neutral precursors. The results of this study indicate that the astronomical detection of OCN{sup -} in ice mantels could be significantly impaired if the ion is embedded in a compact water network.
- OSTI ID:
- 22086422
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 759, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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