Akademska digitalna zbirka SLovenije - logo
E-viri
Recenzirano Odprti dostop
  • Impact ionization mass spec...
    Hillier, J. K.; Postberg, F.; Sestak, S.; Srama, R.; Kempf, S.; Trieloff, M.; Sternovsky, Z.; Green, S. F.

    Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, September 2012, Letnik: 117, Številka: E9
    Journal Article

    Anorthite, the Ca‐rich end‐member of plagioclase feldspar, is a dominant mineral component of the Lunar highlands. Plagioclase feldspar is also found in comets, meteorites and stony asteroids. It is therefore expected to contribute to the population of interplanetary (and circumplanetary) dust grains within the solar system. After coating micron‐ and submicron‐sized grains of Anorthite with a conductive layer of Platinum, the mineral was successfully accelerated to hypervelocity speeds in the Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik's Van de Graaff accelerator. We present impact ionization mass spectra generated following the impacts of anorthite grains with a prototype mass spectrometer (the Large Area Mass Analyser, LAMA) designed for use in space, and discuss the behavior of the spectra with increasing impact energy. Correlation analysis is used to identify the compositions and sources of cations present in the spectra, enabling the identification of several molecular cations (e.g., CaAlO2, CaSiO2, Ca2AlO3/CaAlSi2O2) which identify anorthite as the progenitor bulk grain material. Key Points Laboratory simulation of cosmic dust impact ionization Mass spectra of anorthite grains vary with impact velocity Key spectral features are found which may identify the mineral