WATER-AMMONIUM ICES AND THE ELUSIVE 6.85 {mu}m BAND

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal 2009-10, Vol.703 (2)
• Main Authors: Mate, B., Galvez, O., Herrero, V. J., Fernandez-Torre, D., Moreno, M. A., Escribano, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AMBIENT TEMPERATURE; AMMONIUM CHLORIDES; AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS; AMMONIUM HALIDES; ANIONS; ASTROPHYSICS; ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; CHARGED PARTICLES; CHLORIDES; CHLORINE; CHLORINE COMPOUNDS; CHLORINE IONS; CRYSTALS; DISPERSIONS; DROPLETS; ELEMENTS; HALIDES; HALOGEN COMPOUNDS; HALOGENS; HOMOGENEOUS MIXTURES; HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS; ICE; INFRARED SPECTRA; IONS; MIXTURES; NONMETALS; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PARTICLES; PHYSICS; SOLUTIONS; SPECTRA; WATER
• ISSN: 1538-4357; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/703/2/L178

The 6.85 {mu}m band observed in the spectra of young stellar objects has been analyzed recently and the most usually accepted assignment to the nu{sub 4} bending mode of NH{sub 4} {sup +} is still under debate. We present here a laboratory study of frozen solutions of NH{sub 4} {sup +}Cl{sup -} in water in an astrophysical range of concentrations and temperatures. The samples are prepared by hyper-quenching of liquid droplets on a cold substrate. The nu{sub 4} band of NH{sub 4} {sup +}, which is very strong in the pure crystal and in the liquid solution at ambient temperature, becomes almost blurred in IR spectra of the frozen solution. The effect of the chlorine anion is expected to be of little relevance in this study. The experimental results are supported by theoretical calculations, which predict a broad range of weak nu{sub 4} features for amorphous samples containing different ammonium environments. The present results indicate that the ammonium ion surrounded by water molecules only cannot suffice to explain this spectral feature. This paper contributes with new evidence to the discussion on the assignment of the 6.85 {mu}m band.