Desorption of CO and O2interstellar ice analogs*

Aims.Solid O2has been proposed as a possible reservoir for molecular oxygen in dense clouds through freeze-out processes. The aim of this work is to characterize quantitatively the physical processes that are involved in the desorption kinetics of CO–O2ices by interpreting laboratory temperature programmed desorption (TPD) data. This information is used to simulate the behavior of CO–O2ices under astrophysical conditions.