An innovative approach for the generation of species of the interstellar medium

Abstract

The large amount of unstable species in the realm ofinterstellar chemistry drives an urgent need to develop efficientmethods for the in situ generations of molecules that enabletheir spectroscopic characterizations. Such laboratory experi-ments are fundamental to decode the molecular universe bymatching the interstellar and terrestrial spectra. We propose anapproach based on laser ablation of nonvolatile solid organicprecursors. The generated chemical species are cooled ina supersonic expansion and probed by high-resolution micro-wave spectroscopy. We present a proof of concept througha simultaneous formation of interstellar compounds and thefirst generation of aminocyanoacetylene using diaminomaleo-nitrile as a prototypical precursor. With this micro-laboratory,we open the door to generation of unsuspected species usingprecursors not typically accessible to traditional techniquessuch as electric discharge and pyrolysis.