Le milieu interstellaire ainsi que certaines atmosphères de corps planétaires, en particulier Titan, un des plus grands satellites du système solaire, présentent une grande diversité d'espèces chimiques. Cette chimie complexe est très différente de celle que nous connaissons sur Terre. Pour comprendre les phénomènes globaux qui s'y déroulent, une connaissance des réactions chimiques, de leur vitesse et de leurs produits est requise. A l'aide de la technique CRESU, nous sommes capables de reproduire certaines conditions des milieux les plus froids de l'espace et d'étudier ces réactions. / The interstellar medium and some atmospheres of planetary bodies, in particular Titan, one of the largest satellites of Saturn, present a large variety of chemical species. This complex chemistry is very different from the one we know on Earth. To understand the global phenomenon that happen in these environments, we need to understand the chemical reactions, their reaction rate and their products. With the CRESU technique, we are able to reproduce partially the coldest environments of space to study these reactions.

The focused laser beam delivered by the high-power laser system PALS was used for laboratory simulation of high-energy-density events in a planetary atmosphere. Several model gas mixtures were prepared to mimic the mildly reducing early Earth's atmosphere (CO-N2-H2O) as well as the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan and the strongly reducing early Earth's atmosphere (CH4-N2-H2O). In situ investigation of transient species generated by the laser-induced dielectric breakdown in the gaseous mixtures was performed by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Final products of laser-plasma initiated chemical reactions were identified and determined by advanced mass-spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and absorption FT-IR spectroscopy. High-power laser system SOFIA was utilized to simulate in our laboratory a high-velocity impact into the icy satellites of the outer planets of the Solar system. OES was engaged in probing the plasmas produced by the SOFIA beam focused on ice surfaces (water, methanol, formamide), while final products were analyzed by means of gas chromatography (GC/MS) and mass-spectrometry (SIFT-MS).