Production and processing of silicates in laboratory and in space

Since their formation in the outflows of evolved stars, materials suffer in space deep chemical and physical modifications. Most abundant elements (C, N, O, Mg, Si, S and Fe) are present in dust as refractory chemical species. Among them silicates are one of the main constituents, Spectroscopic observations in various astronomical environments have shown that magnesium rich silicates are present both in amorphous and in crystalline form. An accurate interpretation of these observations requires studies on the formation of silicate dust in the atmospheres of giant stars and their evolution in the interstellar medium until their inclusion in protoplanetary disks. Many theoretical works have described the chemical and physical evolution of solids in space and their link to observable optical properties. Laboratory studies of cosmic dust analogues are needed to investigate these processes experimentally. In this work, experiments aimed at simulating the formation of silicates in space are presented. In particular, the laser ablation technique is used to produce amorphous silicates with various Si-Mg-Fe content. The analysis of their thermal evolution is presented. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.