Laser Isotope Ratio Instrumentation for the Environmental Sciences and Space Quantum Communications

Welcome to the Kerstel research group website

We are part of the LAME (Lasers, Molecules, Environment) group of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Physics (LIPhy, formerly the Laboratoire de Spectrometrie Physique, or SPECTRO) of the University of Grenoble Alpes. 

Our research group is interested in the development and implementation of novel, miniaturized laser spectroscopic instrumentation to measure trace gases and isotope abundance ratios of water and other environmentally important molecules (such as carbon dioxide), as well as their application in interdisciplinary and often international research projects and extreme environments.

Ultra-sensitive laser-based detection techniques enable us to build compacter, cheaper, and more robust instrumentation, compared to the conventional method of (Isotope Ratio) Mass Spectrometry. 

So far we have applied our instruments in biomedical research on metabolism, in paleoclimate studies (Arctic and Antarctic ice-cores), in ecology, and in atmospheric research (airborne stratospheric water vapor isotope measurements).

Starting in early 2016 we have been developing the NanoBob project together with the group of Rupert Ursin at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Communication in Vienna. NanoBob aims at demonstrating global Quantum Key Distribution using an economic CubeSat nano-satellite platform. This work is carried out within the Grenoble University Space Center (CSUG) and has more recently evolved toward the study of Quantum Information Networks with a Space component. As such we are part of the International Network in Space Quantum Technologies (INSQT) and the Federation QuantAlps.

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