Work Biography for Dr. Ludovic Biennier

Ludovic Biennier is a young physicist who joined the Astrochemistry Lab in January 2000 as a National Research Council associate. He received his Ph.D. in Physics in December 99 at the Laboratoire de Spectrometrie Physique from the Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble, France. He has been trained to highly sensitive and high resolution laser techniques which were applied to molecular spectroscopy. In particular, he has gained experience with IntraCavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ICLAS) and Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) through the acknowledged expertise of Dr. Alexander Kachanov and Dr. Daniele Romanini in both techniques. His work was devoted to the study of the vibrational excited states of medium-size molecules and of molecules of atmospheric and astrophysical interest under the guidance of Dr. Alain Campargue.

His current objective is to investigate the possible correspondence between interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs). To decisively address the issue of the identification of the DIBs, astronomical observations must be compared to laboratory spectra measured in an astrophysically relevant environment i.e. with molecules/ions isolated, cold and in the gas-phase. This task represents an experimental challenge because PAHs are large, non-volatile molecules that need to be vaporized and ionized. My contribution consisted in the development of a cavity ringdown spectrometer associated to a cold plasma source to record the spectral signature of PAH ions that have been pre-selected by Matrix Isolation Spectroscopy. Our approach was tested during the feasibility phase at Grenoble that led to the first measurement of the electronic spectrum of the free-flying naphthalene cation.

His publications can be found here.

Stay tuned for the first results and pictures of the experimental apparatus!