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Description
The HDO/H_2_O ratio measured in interstellar gas is often used to draw conclusions on the formation and evolution of water in starforming regions and, by comparison with cometary data, on the origin of water on Earth. In cold cores and in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks, an important source of gas-phase water comes from photodesorption of water ice. This research note presents fitting formulae for implementation in astrochemical models using previously computed photodesorption electronicciencies for all water ice isotopologues obtained with classical molecular dynamics simulations. The results are used to investigate to what extent the gas-phase HDO/H_2_O ratio reflects that present in the ice or whether fractionation can occur during the photodesorption process. Probabilities for the top four monolayers are presented for photodesorption of X (X=H,D) atoms, OX radicals, and X_2_O and HDO molecules following photodissociation of H_2_O, D_2_O, and HDO in H_2_O amorphous ice at ice temperatures from 10-100K. Significant isotope ects are found for all possible products: (1) H atom photodesorption probabilities from H_2_O ice are larger than those for D atom photodesorption from D_2_O ice by a factor of 1.1; the ratio of H and D photodesorbed upon HDO photodissociation is a factor of 2. This process will enrich the ice in deuterium atoms over time; (2) the OD/OH photodesorption ratio upon D_2_O and H_2_O photodissociation is on average a factor of 2, but the OD/OH photodesorption ratio upon HDO photodissociation is almost constant at unity for all ice temperatures; (3) D atoms are more ective in kicking out neighbouring water molecules than H atoms. However, the ratio of the photodesorbed HDO and H_2_O molecules is equal to the HDO/H_2_O ratio in the ice, therefore, there is no isotope fractionation when HDO and H_2_O photodesorb from the ice. Nevertheless, the enrichment of the ice in D atoms due to photodesorption can over time lead to an enhanced HDO/H_2_O ratio in the ice, and, when photodesorbed, also in the gas. The extent to which the ortho/para ratio of H_2_O can be modified by the photodesorption process is discussed briefly as well.
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