Laboratory experiments of thermal annealing,
evaporation and condensation of dust
This project aims at obtaining reliable laboratory data on
the physico-chemical processes taking place during thermal
annealing, evaporation and condensation of silicate
minerals. These data are urgently needed for a consistent
astrophysical modeling of radial abundances of
dust/minerals and the chemical composition of dust in
protoplanetary disks. The dust component determines the
thermal structure of the disk, as radiative transfer
depends on optical properties of crystalline and amorphous
minerals. Furthermore, the chemical composition of solids
and
their abundance (Ca, Al rich compounds, Mg-rich silicates,
metal) determines the composition of accreting solid bodies
(terrestrial planets and asteroids). A variety of minerals
- particularly the cosmochemically abundant Mg-rich
silicates of the olivine and pyroxene groups - have been
observed via infrared spectroscopy of protoplanetary disks
and comets. In this project, controlled evaporation and
condensation experiments (equilibrium, non-equilibrium)
will be performed under protoplanetary disk conditions and
thermal annealing will be traced in the laboratory by
infrared spectroscopy of heated amorphous materials.
Experiments will focus on Mg-rich olivine and pyroxene with
variable Fe and Ca contents, and on Ca, Al compounds, for
which reliable data are still missing.
Principle Investigators
Prof. Dr. Dominique Lattard
PD Dr. Mario Trieloff
Prof. Dr. Annemarie Pucci