| dc.description.abstract | There are many interstellar ices in the galaxy, and its main composition includes H2O, NH3, CH3OH, CH4, CO, CO2, etc. Under the low temperature (10K -100K), these molecules tend to attach to the surfaces of the interstellar particles or the meteorites, and then become interstellar ice. Meanwhile, there are also many particles (with energy to some degree) that ejected by other stars in the universe, like the solar wind of the solar system. When bombarded with these energetic particles, the molecule structure of the interstellar ice could be changed and produce organic matters. Those interstellar ices on the surfaces of the meteorite, which had turned into organic matters, may fall on a planet with the meteorite, and bring the organic matters to that planet. This could make a significant change to the evolution of the planet, especially for the planet where the organic matters never exist before.
The mechanism of the reaction that produces organic matter out of ice crystal is the main topic that we wanted to probe into in this essay. In our experiment, we utilized the cryogenic technique (24 K) and the ultra-high vacuum (6×10-10 torr) to simulate the environment of outer space. And we used H3+ ions (15keV) to bombard the chemical compounds (the ice crystal) with CH-bonds or CO-bonds. The chemical compounds, including CH4 and CO2, mixed with H2O in various proposition are the controlled variables in the experiment. Finally, we used FTIR to scan the ice crystal, both before and after the bombardment, and then analyze the quantity of the CO、 CO2 and CH3OH bonds produced under the different conditions.
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