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The impact of extreme low temperatures on Raman spectra of Amino Acids relevant for the search for life on europa

The impact of extreme low temperatures on Raman spectra of Amino Acids relevant for the search for life on europa
The impact of extreme low temperatures on Raman spectra of Amino Acids relevant for the search for life on europa
Raman spectroscopy, an emerging technology for in situ space exploration, has been suggested for life detection for the Europa Lander Mission. However, obtaining spectra of samples from the europan icy shell requires measurements at temperatures down to −233°C, which will affect the Raman spectra of any potential biosignatures. In this study, we obtained Raman spectra of amino acids using a 785 nm Raman system at temperatures ranging down to −196°C, analogous to Europa's surface and near subsurface. Significant Raman band width narrowing and decreasing variance were observed at lower temperatures leading to higher-precision Raman measurements, which required higher spectral resolution that could be as high as 2 cm−1 for full identification of amino acids. Such spectral resolution is much higher than the resolution of contemporary Raman instruments for planetary exploration and may be particularly problematic for miniaturized instruments. Shifting of Raman bands to both higher and lower frequencies by as much as ∼25 cm−1 together with changes in the Raman band intensity were recorded. The emergence of new bands and diminishing of the original bands also occurred for some amino acids. A significantly increased fluorescence background was observed in spectra of fluorescent molecules (i.e., tryptophan). A link between the type of vibrational modes associated with Raman bands and the change in their Raman shift at extreme low temperatures was identified and described. This link offers an exciting new method of molecule identification solely based on the comparison of spectra collected at two different temperatures and could greatly improve the identification capabilities in Raman spectroscopy for a wide array of applications.

Astrobiology, Biosignatures, Europa, Extreme low temperatures, Life detection, Raman spectroscopy
1531-1074
1271-1292
Vitkova, Ariana Barbora
574463b5-8c69-4d15-a22a-a8b7076ad80c
Walker, Scott
f28a342f-9755-48fd-94ea-09e44ac4dbf5
Sykulska-Lawrence, Hanna
844512fc-78fb-420c-8d16-fefa2ce35d26
Vitkova, Ariana Barbora
574463b5-8c69-4d15-a22a-a8b7076ad80c
Walker, Scott
f28a342f-9755-48fd-94ea-09e44ac4dbf5
Sykulska-Lawrence, Hanna
844512fc-78fb-420c-8d16-fefa2ce35d26

Vitkova, Ariana Barbora, Walker, Scott and Sykulska-Lawrence, Hanna (2022) The impact of extreme low temperatures on Raman spectra of Amino Acids relevant for the search for life on europa. Astrobiology, 22 (11), 1271-1292. (doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0136).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Raman spectroscopy, an emerging technology for in situ space exploration, has been suggested for life detection for the Europa Lander Mission. However, obtaining spectra of samples from the europan icy shell requires measurements at temperatures down to −233°C, which will affect the Raman spectra of any potential biosignatures. In this study, we obtained Raman spectra of amino acids using a 785 nm Raman system at temperatures ranging down to −196°C, analogous to Europa's surface and near subsurface. Significant Raman band width narrowing and decreasing variance were observed at lower temperatures leading to higher-precision Raman measurements, which required higher spectral resolution that could be as high as 2 cm−1 for full identification of amino acids. Such spectral resolution is much higher than the resolution of contemporary Raman instruments for planetary exploration and may be particularly problematic for miniaturized instruments. Shifting of Raman bands to both higher and lower frequencies by as much as ∼25 cm−1 together with changes in the Raman band intensity were recorded. The emergence of new bands and diminishing of the original bands also occurred for some amino acids. A significantly increased fluorescence background was observed in spectra of fluorescent molecules (i.e., tryptophan). A link between the type of vibrational modes associated with Raman bands and the change in their Raman shift at extreme low temperatures was identified and described. This link offers an exciting new method of molecule identification solely based on the comparison of spectra collected at two different temperatures and could greatly improve the identification capabilities in Raman spectroscopy for a wide array of applications.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 14 June 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 August 2022
Published date: 1 November 2022
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © Copyright 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2022.
Keywords: Astrobiology, Biosignatures, Europa, Extreme low temperatures, Life detection, Raman spectroscopy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 469771
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469771
ISSN: 1531-1074
PURE UUID: b6fcc2ed-0870-4620-a934-53a98d22f332
ORCID for Ariana Barbora Vitkova: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9872-7811

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 26 Sep 2022 16:35
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 21:52

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Contributors

Author: Ariana Barbora Vitkova ORCID iD
Author: Scott Walker

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