Ferroelectric ice in the Universe: a neutron diffraction study

Abstract

We have studies the conditions required for the formation of ice XI. We measured diffraction profiles of ice with many kinds of dopants using the High Resolution Powder diffractometer (HRPD). We carefully created samples of ice that contained impurities, which assisted the ice XI conversion process as a catalyst. The results indicate that ice with an ionized defect OH- transforms to an enough ice XI after several hundred hours. We studied an irradiated ice. The gamma- and UV-irradiation also creates OH-. The detail is underway.