New center article - Julia Santos
Title: Resonant infrared irradiation of CO and CH3OH interstellar ices
Authors: J. C. Santos, K.-J. Chuang, J. G. M. Schrauwen, A. Traspas Muiña, J. Zhang, H. M. Cuppen, B. Redlich, H. Linnartz, and S. Ioppolo
Summary: In this work, we explore the effects of direct vibrational excitation by infrared photons on interstellar ices. We find compelling evidence of IR-induced photodesorption of CO and CH3OH ices, yielding interstellar efficiencies comparable to or higher than UV-induced counterparts. Most notably, this process could potentially transfer larger ice molecules to the gas phase without fragmentation---thus impacting the expected abundance of gaseous complex species in the interstellar medium.