The ALMA-CRISTAL Survey: Spatial extent of [CII] line emission in star-forming galaxies at \(z=4-6\)

We investigate the spatial extent and structure of the [CII] line emission in a sample of 34 galaxies at \(z=4-6\) from the ALMA-CRISTAL Survey. By modeling the [CII] line emission in the interferometric visibility, we derive the effective radius of [CII] line emission assuming an exponential profile. The [CII] line radius ranges from 0.5 to 3.5 kpc with an average value of \(\langle R_{e,[CII]}\rangle=1.90\) kpc. We compare the [CII] sizes with the sizes of rest-frame UV and FIR continua, which were measured from the HST F160W images and ALMA Band-7 continuum images, respectively. We confirm that the [CII] line emission is more spatially extended than the continuum emission, with average size ratios of \(\langle R_{e,[CII]}/R_{e,UV}\rangle=2.90\) and \(\langle R_{e,[CII]}/R_{e,FIR}\rangle=1.54\), although about half of the FIR-detected sample show comparable spatial extent between [CII] line and FIR continuum emission. The residual visibility of the best-fit model do not show statistical evidence of flux excess, indicating that the [CII] line emission in star-forming galaxies can be characterized by an extended exponential profile. Overall, our results suggest that the spatial extent of [CII] line emission can primarily be explained by PDRs associated with star formation activity, while the contribution from diffuse neutral medium (atomic gas) and the effects of past merger events may further expand the [CII] line distributions, causing their variations. Finally, we report the negative correlation between \(\Sigma_{[CII]}\) and EW\(_{Ly\alpha}\), and possible negative correlation between \(R_{e,[CII]}/R_{e,UV}\) and EW\(_{Ly\alpha}\), which may be in line with the scenario that atomic gas largely contributes to the extended [CII] line emission. Future 3-D analysis of Ly\(\alpha\) and H\(\alpha\) lines will shed light on the association of the extended [CII] line emission with atomic gas and outflows.