Proton irradiation of simple gas mixtures: Influence of irradiation parameters

In order to get information about the influence of irradiation parameters on radiolysis processes of astrophysical interest, methane gas targets were irradiated with 6.5 MeV protons at a pressure of 1 bar and room temperature. Yields of higher hydrocarbons like ethane or propane were found by analysis of irradiated gas samples using gas chromatography. The handling of the proton beam was of great experimental importance for determining the irradiation parameters. In a series of experiments current density of the proton beam and total absorbed energy were shown to have a large influence on the yields of produced hydrocarbons. Mechanistic interpretations of the results are given and conclusions are drawn with regard to the chemistry and the simulation of various astrophysical systems.