Radiation effects in water ice: A near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure study

The changes in the structure and composition of vapor-deposited ice films irradiated at 20 K with soft x-ray photons (3-900 eV) and their subsequent evolution with temperatures between 20 and 150 K have been investigated by near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) at the oxygen K edge. We observe the hydroxyl OH, the atomic oxygen O, and the hydroperoxyl HO2 radicals, as well as the oxygen O-2 and hydrogen peroxide H2O2 molecules in irradiated porous amorphous solid water (p-ASW) and crystalline (I-cryst) ice films. The evolution of their concentrations with the temperature indicates that HO2, O-2, and H2O2 result from a simple step reaction fuelled by OH, where O-2 is a product of HO2 and HO2 a product of H2O2. The local order of ice is also modified, whatever the initial structure is. The crystalline ice I-cryst becomes amorphous. The high-density amorphous phase (I(a)h) of ice is observed after irradiation of the p-ASW film, whose initial structure is the normal low-density form of the amorphous ice (I(a)l). The phase I(a)h is thus peculiar to irradiated ice and does not exist in the as-deposited ice films. A new very high density amorphous phase-we call I(a)vh-is obtained after warming at 50 K the irradiated p-ASW ice. This phase is stable up to 90 K and partially transforms into crystalline ice at 150 K. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.