Formation of organic hazes in CO$_2$-rich sub-Neptune atmospheres within the graphite-stability regime

Abstract

Super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are the most common exoplanets, with a "radius valley" suggesting that super-Earths may form by shedding sub-Neptunes' gaseous envelopes. Exoplanets that lie closer to the super-Earth side of the valley are more likely to have lost a significant fraction of their original H/He envelopes and become enriched in heavier elements with CO$_2$ gaining in abundance. It remains unclear which types of haze would form in such atmospheres, potentially significantly affecting spectroscopic observations. To investigate this, we performed laboratory simulations of two CO$_2$-rich gas mixtures (with 2000 times solar metallicity at 300 K and 500 K). We found that under plasma irradiation, organic hazes were produced at both temperatures with higher haze production rate at 300 K probably because condensation occurs more readily at lower temperature. Gas-phase analysis demonstrates the formation of various hydrocarbons, oxygen- and nitrogen-containing species, including reactive gas precursors like C$_2$H$_4$, CH$_2$O, and HCN, for haze formation. The compositional analysis of the haze particles reveals various functional groups and molecular formulas in both samples. The 500 K haze sample has larger average molecular sizes, higher degree of unsaturation with more double or triple bonds presence, and higher nitrogen content incorporated as N-H, C=N bonds, indicating different haze formation pathways. These findings not only improve the haze formation theories in CO$_2$-rich exoplanet atmospheres but also offer important implications for the interpretation of future observational data.