Hannover 2020 – scientific programme

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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 5: MO Poster 1

MO 5.10: Poster

Monday, March 9, 2020, 17:00–19:00, Empore Lichthof

Optical Properties of Diamondoid Cations and Their Astrochemical Relevance — •Parker Crandall, David Müller, Peter Meinhold, Marko Förstel, and Otto Dopfer — Institut für Optik und Atomare Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

Diamondoids, also known as nanodiamonds, are a class of highly stable, aliphatic cycloalkanes arranged into cage-like structures by the sp3 hybridization of the carbon atoms. Members of the astrochemical community have demonstrated similarities between the IR spectra of diamondoids and unidentified infrared emission bands seen in the spectra of young stars with circumstellar disks. A ubiquitous presence of diamondoids is hypothesized, which could account for more than 5 % of cosmic and 40 % of tertiary carbon in interstellar environments. Due to their low ionization energy, it is also suggested that the radical cations of these molecules, which are predicted to absorb in the IR-UV/VIS range, are also present in high abundances and might be responsible for features in the well-known diffuse interstellar bands. However, optical spectra of these cations have not previously been reported. In this contribution, we present the first optical spectra via laser spectroscopy of the simplest diamondoid cation, the adamantane radical cation, by ion trapping in a cryogenic 22-pole trap. Fragmentation channels of the parent ion were also investigated by reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The astrophysical implications and future work are also described.