Cryogenic Laboratory Experiments into Radiation Effects on the Spectra of Non-Ice Materials relevant to Ocean Worlds

The airless satellites of Jupiter and Saturn are bombarded by high-energy particles from solar wind and their planetary magnetospheres. The particles range up to MeV energies and penetrate sufficiently far (microns) into the surface to cause damage that can affect their UV - IR spectral signatures. These particles physically and chemically alter the exposed surface by damaging crystallinity, sputtering non-refractory neutrals, depositing into the material, and inducing chemical reactions between existing and/or exogenous components. Previous studies of salts irradiated at room temperature ( 293 K) under high vacuum (1e-7 Torr) demonstrated the formation of radiation-induced color centers, or Farbe-centers, that are active at near UV, visible, and near IR wavelengths [1,2]. In this study, we investigated the effects of irradiation on these and other materials at temperatures relevant to the surfaces of the Galilean and Saturnian satellites. Experiments at the appropriate temperatures are important because the diffusion of the H-centers, which can interact with F-centers [3], are strongly temperature dependent and may be inhibited. This could affect the spectral signature of the irradiated materials. The experiments simulated the radiation environment using 40 keV electrons at 80 microamps under high vacuum at 100 K while characterizing the spectral changes (UV through mid-IR). Spectral measurements were obtained in the UV-Visible ( 130-570 nm) using a McPherson monochromater and photomultiplier detector, in the Visible-SWIR ( 340-2500 nm) using a SVC point spectrometer, and in the NIR-MIR ( 1500 to 8000 nm) using a Bruker Vertex 70 FTIR coupled to a liquid nitrogen cooled MCT detector. Spectra were collected while the sample was held under high vacuum at cryogenic temperatures both before, during, and after irradiation. Our results characterize the spectral signature of radiation-induced color centers that can form at the temperatures present at the surface of airless ocean worlds. We will show the spectral change induced by irradiation at cryogenic temperatures and compare these results to performed at room temperature. [1] Hibbitts et al. [2017], Icarus, submitted. [2] Hand and Carlson. [2015], GRL, 42, 3174-3178. [3] Soppe et al. [1994] J. Nuc. Mat., 217, 1-31.