What is it about?
Chiral molecules exist in left-handed and right-handed spatial configurations. Even though the left-handed and right-handed variants are identical in almost all their physical properties, they interact differently with electromagnetic fields. In a specific scheme, combining three different electromagnetic fields, this may be exploited to radiatively excite molecules of only one handedness.
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Why is it important?
We first prove, using group theoretical arguments, that three mutually orthogonal polarization directions are needed for chiral resolution with three-wave mixing, discuss both adiabatic and nonadiabatic excitation schemes and apply them not only to the idealized three-level structure but also to a more realistic model of the molecular structure including the degenerate M-levels.
Perspectives
Combining group theoretical considerations and numerical simulations for the simplest model as well as actual molecules, we are able to provide a comprehensive picture of the fundamental requirements to achieve enantioselectivity in different excitation regimes for chiral molecules.
Christiane P Koch
Freie Universitat Berlin
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Principles of enantio-selective excitation in three-wave mixing spectroscopy of chiral molecules, The Journal of Chemical Physics, July 2019, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/1.5097406.
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