The lunar surface-exosphere connection: Measurement of secondary-ions from Apollo soils

Abstract Low energy secondary ions ejected by the solar wind are an important component of tenuous exospheres surrounding airless bodies, since these ions carry information on the planetary surface composition. In this work we examine the dependence of secondary-ion abundance, as a function of energy and mass, on surface composition. The surface compositions of two Apollo soils (10084 and 62231) and a synthetic Corning glass lunar simulant were measured with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and correlated with the spectra of secondary-ions ejected from the same soils by 4 keV He ions. XPS spectra for lunar soils show that the surface compositions are similar to the bulk, but enriched in Fe and O, while depleted in Mg and Ca. 4 keV He irradiation on the lunar soils and a glass simulant preferentially removes O and Si, enriching the surface in Al, Ti, Mg, and Ca. Secondary-ion species ejected from the Apollo soils by 4 keV He include: Na+, Mg+, Al+, Si+, Ca+, Ca++, Ti+, Fe+, and molecular species: NaO+, MgO+ and SiO+. Secondary ion energy distributions for lunar soil 10084 and 62231 rise rapidly, reach a maxima at ∼5 eV for molecular ions and Na+, ∼7.5 eV for Fe+, and ∼10 eV for Mg+, Al+, Si+, Ca+ and Ti+, then decrease slowly with energy. We present species-dependent relative conversion factors for the derivation of atomic surface composition from secondary-ion count rates for 4 keV He irradiation of lunar soils 10084 and 62231, as well as the Corning glass lunar simulant.

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