Photon-stimulated desorption as a substantial source of sodium in the lunar atmosphere

B. V. Yakshinskiy and T. E. Madey ()
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B. V. Yakshinskiy: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
T. E. Madey: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Nature, 1999, vol. 400, issue 6745, 642-644

Abstract: Abstract Mercury and the Moon both have tenuous atmospheres that contain atomic sodium and potassium. These chemicals must be continuously resupplied, as neither body can retain the atoms formore than a few hours (1–6). The mechanisms proposed to explain the resupply include sputtering of the surface by the solar wind3,4, micrometeorite impacts5, thermal desorption6,7,8 and photon-stimulated desorption6,7,8,9,10. But there are few data and no general agreement about which processes dominate5,10,11,12,13,14. Here wereport laboratory studies of photon-stimulated desorption of sodium from surfaces that simulate lunar silicates. We find that bombardment of such surfaces at temperatures of ∼250 K by ultraviolet photons (wavelength λ

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/23204

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