Resumen: If neutrinos are their own antiparticles the otherwise-forbidden nuclear reaction known as neutrinoless double beta decay can occur. The very long lifetime expected for these exceptional events makes its detection a daunting task. In order to conduct an almost background-free experiment, the NEXT collaboration is investigating novel synthetic molecular sensors that may capture the Ba dication produced in the decay of certain Xe isotopes in a high-pressure gas experiment. The use of such molecular detectors immobilized on surfaces must be explored in the ultra-dry environment of a xenon gas chamber. Here, using a combination of highly sensitive surface science techniques in ultra-high vacuum, we demonstrate the possibility of employing the so-called Fluorescent Bicolor Indicator as the molecular component of the sensor. We unravel the ion capture process for these molecular indicators immobilized on a surface and explain the origin of the emission fluorescence shift associated to the ion trapping. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35153-0 Año: 2022 Publicado en: Nature communications 13, 1 (2022), 7741 [10 pp.] ISSN: 2041-1723 Factor impacto JCR: 16.6 (2022) Categ. JCR: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES rank: 6 / 73 = 0.082 (2022) - Q1 - T1 Factor impacto CITESCORE: 24.9 - Physics and Astronomy (Q1) - General (Q1) - Chemistry (Q1) - Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Q1)