Journal
PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE
Volume 151, Issue -, Pages 1-10Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.pss.2017.09.003
Keywords
Time-resolved fluorescence; Ultraviolet; Organics; Astrobiology; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
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Funding
- Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
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Many aromatic organic molecules exhibit strong and characteristic fluorescence when excited with ultraviolet radiation. As laser excitation in the ultraviolet generates both fluorescence and resonantly enhanced Raman scattering of aromatic vibrational modes, combined Raman and fluorescence instruments have been proposed to search for organic compounds on Mars. In this work the time-resolved fluorescence of a suite of 24 compounds composed of 2-5 ringed alternant, non-alternant, and heterocyclic PAHs was measured. Fluorescence instrumentation with similar specifications to a putative flight instrument was capable of observing the fluorescence decay of these compounds with a sub-ns resolution. Incorporating time-resolved capabilities was also found to increase the ability to discriminate between individual PAHs. Incorporating time-resolved fluorescence capabilities into an ultraviolet gated Raman system intended for a rover or lander can increase the ability to detect and characterize PAHs on planetary surfaces.
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