Speaker
Description
Chiral molecules are ubiquitous in nature and they are of great importance in many biological and chemical processes. The two non-superimposable mirror images of a chiral molecule are referred to as enantiomers. Even though most physical properties of enantiomers are identical – which makes them intrinsically challenging to separate – their handedness often determines their functionality. Recently, enantiomer-specific state transfer was demonstrated using an all-coherent method employing mutually orthogonally polarized, resonant microwave pulses [1]. There, enantiomer-specific enrichment in a chosen rotational state could be experimentally realized and qualitatively understood.
By combining optical methods [2] with microwave spectroscopy, we developed a new spectroscopic scheme that generates maximum population difference between initial and final rotational levels and enhances the sensitivity of the detection method [3]. Our scheme enables a quantitative comparison between experiment and theory for the transfer efficiency of enantiomer-specific state transfer involving the absolute ground state level. Straightforward extensions will allow to create a molecular beam with an enantiomer-pure rotational level, holding great prospects for future spectroscopic and scattering studies.
[1] S. Eibenberger, J. Doyle, D. Patterson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 123002 (2017)
[2] A. O. Hernandez-Castillo, J. Bischoff, J. H. Lee, J. Langenhan, M. Karra, G. Meijer, and S. Eibenberger-Arias, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 23, 7048-7056 (2021)
[3] J. H. Lee, J. Bischoff, A. O. Hernandez-Castillo, B. Sartakov, G. Meijer, and S. Eibenberger-Arias, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 173001 (2022)
| Abstract Number (department-wise) | MP 02 |
|---|---|
| Department | MP (Meijer) |
