Chiral topological light for detecting robust enantio-sensitive observables

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Mayer, Nicola, Ayuso, David, Decleva, Piero, Khokhlova, Margarita, Pisanty, Emilio, Ivanov, Misha, Smirnova, Olga
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Mayer, Nicola
Ayuso, David
Decleva, Piero
Khokhlova, Margarita
Pisanty, Emilio
Ivanov, Misha
Smirnova, Olga
author_facet Mayer, Nicola
Ayuso, David
Decleva, Piero
Khokhlova, Margarita
Pisanty, Emilio
Ivanov, Misha
Smirnova, Olga
contents The topological response of matter to electromagnetic fields is a property in high demand in materials design and metrology due to its robustness against noise and decoherence, stimulating recent advances in ultrafast photonics. Embedding topological properties into the enantio-sensitive optical response of chiral molecules could therefore enhance the efficiency and robustness of chiral optical discrimination. Here we achieve such a topological embedding by introducing the concept of chiral topological light~-- a light beam which displays chirality locally, with an azimuthal distribution of its handedness described globally by a topological charge. The topological charge is mapped onto the azimuthal intensity modulation of the non-linear optical response, where enantio-sensitivity is encoded into its spatial rotation. The spatial rotation is robust against intensity fluctuations and imperfect local polarization states of the driving field. Our theoretical results show that chiral topological light enables detection of percentage-level enantiomeric excesses in randomly oriented mixtures of chiral molecules, opening a way to new, extremely sensitive and robust chiro-optical spectroscopies with attosecond time resolution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2303_10932
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Chiral topological light for detecting robust enantio-sensitive observables
Mayer, Nicola
Ayuso, David
Decleva, Piero
Khokhlova, Margarita
Pisanty, Emilio
Ivanov, Misha
Smirnova, Olga
Optics
Atomic Physics
Chemical Physics
The topological response of matter to electromagnetic fields is a property in high demand in materials design and metrology due to its robustness against noise and decoherence, stimulating recent advances in ultrafast photonics. Embedding topological properties into the enantio-sensitive optical response of chiral molecules could therefore enhance the efficiency and robustness of chiral optical discrimination. Here we achieve such a topological embedding by introducing the concept of chiral topological light~-- a light beam which displays chirality locally, with an azimuthal distribution of its handedness described globally by a topological charge. The topological charge is mapped onto the azimuthal intensity modulation of the non-linear optical response, where enantio-sensitivity is encoded into its spatial rotation. The spatial rotation is robust against intensity fluctuations and imperfect local polarization states of the driving field. Our theoretical results show that chiral topological light enables detection of percentage-level enantiomeric excesses in randomly oriented mixtures of chiral molecules, opening a way to new, extremely sensitive and robust chiro-optical spectroscopies with attosecond time resolution.
title Chiral topological light for detecting robust enantio-sensitive observables
topic Optics
Atomic Physics
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10932