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< 300 nm) causes very efficient desorption of sodium atoms, induced by electronic excitations rather than by thermal processes or momentum transfer. The fluxat the lunar surface of ultraviolet photons from the Sun is sufficient to ensure that photon-stimulated desorption of sodium contributes substantially to the Moon's atmosphere. On Mercury, solar heating of the surface implies that thermal desorption7 will also be an important source of atmospheric sodium.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Potter, A. E. J & Morgan, T. H. Discovery of sodium in the atmosphere of Mercury. Science 229, 651–653 (1985).
Potter, A. E. J & Morgan, T. H. Discovery of sodium and potassium vapor in the atmosphere of the Moon. Science 241, 675–680 (1988).
Potter, A. E. J & Morgan, T. H. Variation of the lunar sodium emission intensity with phase angle. Geophys. Res. Lett. 21, 2263–2266 (1994).
Potter, A. E. J & Morgan, T. H. Coronagraphic observation of the lunar sodium surface. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 8581–8586 (1998).
Morgan, T. H. & Shemansky, D. E. Limits to the lunar atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res. 96, 1351–1367 (1991).
McGrath, M. A., Johnson, R. E. & Lanzerotti, L. J. Sputtering of sodium on the planet Mercury. Nature 323, 694–696 (1986).
Madey, T. E., Yakshinskiy, B. V., Ageev, V. N. & Johnson, R. E. Desorption of alkali atoms and ions from oxide surfaces: Relevance to origins of Na and K in atmospheres of Mercury and the Moon. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 5873–5887 (1998).
Sprague, A. L.et al. Distribution and abundance of sodium in Mercury's atmosphere, 1985–1988. Icarus 129, 506–527 (1997).
Ip, W. The sodium exosphere and magnetosphere of Mercury. Geophys. Res. Lett. 13, 423–426 (1986).
Mendillo, M. & Baumgardner, J. Constraints on the origin of the Moon's atmosphere from observations during a lunar eclipse. Nature 377, 404–406 (1995).
Hunten, D. M. & Sprague, A. L. Origin and character of the lunar and Mercurian atmospheres. Adv. Space Res. 19, 1551–1560 (1997).
Sprague, A. L., Kozlowski, R. W. H. & Hunten, D. M. Caloris Basin: An enhanced source for potassium in Mercury's atmosphere. Science 249, 1140–1143 (1990).
Sprague, A. L., Kozlowski, R. W. H., Hunten, D. M., Wells, W. K. & Grosse, F. A. The sodium and potassium atmosphere of the Moon and its interaction with the surface. Icarus 96, 7–42 (1992).
Mendillo, M., Emery, J. & Flynn, B. Modeling the Moon's extended sodium cloud as a tool for investigating sources of transient atmospheres. Adv. Space Res. 19, 1557–1560 (1997).
Maschhoff, B. L., Pan, J.-M. & Madey, T. E. Medium-energy backscattered electron diffraction studies of TiO2(110): relation to surface structure. Surf. Sci. 259, 190–206 (1991).
Xu, X. & Goodman, D. W. The preparation and characterization of ultra-thin silicon dioxide films on a Mo (110) surface. Surf. Sci. 282, 323–332 (1993).
Knotek, M. L. in Desorption Induced by Electronic Transitions (eds. Talk, N. H., Traum, M. M., Tully, J.C. & Madey, T. E.) 139–155 (Springer Ser. in Chemical Physics, Vol. 24, Springer, Berlin, 1983).
Potter, A. E. J & Morgan, T. H. Variation of sodium on Mercury with solar radiation pressure. Icarus 71, 472–477 (1987).
Kozlowski, R. W. H., Sprague, A. L. & Hunten, D. M. Observation of potassium in the tenuous lunar atmosphere. Geophys. Res. Lett. 17, 2253–2256 (1990).
Flynn, B. & Mendillo, M. Simulations of the lunar sodium atmosphere. J. Geophys. Res. 100, 23271–23278 (1995).
Hellsing, B., Chakarov, D. V., Österlund, L., Zhdanov, V. P. & Kasemo, B. Photoinduced desorption of potassium atoms from a two-dimensional overlayer on graphite. J. Chem. Phys. 106, 982–1002 (1997).
Wilde, M., Beauport, I., Al-Shamery, K. & Freund, H.-J. Photoinduced processes on alkali covered surface: NO desorption from K/Cr2O3(0001). Surf. Sci. 390, 186–193 (1997).
Ageev, V. N., Kuznetsov, Yu. A., Yakshinskiy, B. V. Madey, T. E. Electron stimulated desorption of alkali metal ions and atoms: Local surface field relaxation. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. B 101, 69–72 (1995).
Ageev, V. N., Kuznetsov, Yu. A. & Madey, T. E. Electron-stimulated desorption of sodium atoms from an oxidized molybdenum surface. Phys. Rev. B 58, 2248–2252 (1998).
Mendillo, M., Baumgardner, J. & Wilson, J. Observational test for the solar wind sputtering origin of the Moon's extended sodium atmosphere. Icarus 137, 13–23 (1999).
Heath, D. F. & Thekaekara, M. P. in The Solar Output and its Variation (ed. White, O. R.) 193–212 (Colorado Assoc. Univ. Press, Boulder, 1977).
Kivelson, M. G. & Russel, C. T. Introduction to Space Physics 92 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995).
Zhou, X. L., Zhu, X. Y. & White, J. M. Photochemistry at adsorbate/metal interface. Surf. Sci. Rep. 13, 73–220 (1991).
Verami, S., Barbieri, C., Benn, C. & Cremonese, G. Possible detection of meteor stream effects on the lunar sodium atmosphere. Planet. Space Sci. 46, 1003–1006 (1998).
Acknowledgements
We thank R. E. Johnson, A. L. Sprague, D. M. Hunten, J. Kolodziej and V. N. Ageev for discussion and correspondence. This work was supported in part by the Planetary Atmospheres Division of NASA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yakshinskiy, B., Madey, T. Photon-stimulated desorption as a substantial source of sodium in the lunar atmosphere. Nature 400, 642–644 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/23204
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/23204
This article is cited by
-
Comparative Na and K Mercury and Moon Exospheres
Space Science Reviews (2022)
-
Review of Mercury’s dynamic magnetosphere: Post-MESSENGER era and comparative magnetospheres
Science China Earth Sciences (2022)
-
Particles and Photons as Drivers for Particle Release from the Surfaces of the Moon and Mercury
Space Science Reviews (2022)
-
Atomic dispensers for thermoplasmonic control of alkali vapor pressure in quantum optical applications
Nature Communications (2019)
-
Enhanced Atomic Desorption of 209 and 210 Francium from Organic Coating
Scientific Reports (2017)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.