2015MNRAS.448.2832W

We report on a sensitive search for redshifted Hα line-emission from three high-metallicity damped Lyα absorbers (DLAs) at z ~ 2.4 with the Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrometer (NIFS) on the Gemini-North telescope, assisted by the ALTtitude conjugate Adaptive optics for the InfraRed (ALTAIR) system with a laser guide star. Within the NIFS field-of-view, ~3.22arcsecx2.92arcsec corresponding to ~25kpcx23kpc at z = 2.4, we detect no statistically significant line-emission at the expected redshifted Hα wavelengths. The measured root-mean-square noise fluctuations in 0.4 arcsec apertures are 1-3x10^–18 erg/s/ cm2. Our analysis of simulated, compact, line-emitting sources yields stringent limits on the star formation rates (SFRs) of the three DLAs, <2.2M_☉/yr (3σ) for two absorbers, and <11M_☉/yr (3σ) for the third, at all impact parameters within ~12.5 kpc to the quasar sightline at the DLA redshift. For the third absorber, the SFR limit is <4.4 M_☉/yr for locations away from the quasar sightline. These results demonstrate the potential of adaptive optics-assisted, integral field unit searches for galaxies associated with high-z DLAs.