A new model of the chemistry of ionizing radiation in solids: CIRIS

Abstract

The collisions between high-energy ions and solids can result in significant physical and chemical changes to the material. These effects are potentially important for better understanding the chemistry of interstellar and planetary bodies, which are exposed to cosmic radiation and the solar wind, respectively; however, modeling such collisions on a detailed microscopic basis has thus far been largely unsuccessful. To that end, a new model, entitled CIRIS: the Chemistry of Ionizing Radiation in Solids, was created to calculate the physical and chemical effects of the irradiation of solid materials. With the new code, we simulate O₂ ice irradiated with 100 keV protons. Our models are able to reproduce the measured ozone abundances of a previous experimental study, as well as independently predict the approximate thickness of the ice used in that work.