LAME : LAsers, Molecules and Environment | LIPhy

The research activities of our team are based on a strong instrumental development of high sensitivity/high precision laser absorption spectroscopy techniques. In particular, we exploit high finesse optical cavities in order to increase the interaction of light with a sample (gas) to reach effective absorption path lengths of several hundreds of km allowing to obtain absorption sensitivities between 10^-12and 10^-10 cm^-1 for the recorded spectra. Moreover, the use of an optical frequency comb referenced to a rubidium clock and a GPS system allows to determine the frequency scale of these spectra with a very high accuracy.

These state-of-the-art tools and techniques are used to characterize line profiles and absorption continua for applications to terrestrial and planetary atmospheres (Laboratory Absorption Spectroscopy). These techniques are also applied to the measurement of isotope ratio variations and to the measurement of the concentration of molecules present in trace amounts in gaseous samples for applications in the medical field, atmospheric chemistry and geosciences (Gas phase trace analysis and Isotope ratio measurements).

Instrumental developments

Ultra-sensitive absorption spectroscopy

Trace analysis in gas phase

Isotope ratio measurements

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