Enantiospecific two-photon electric-dipole selection rule of chiral molecules.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41337594.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adz4877 and PMC identifier 13142755.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Distinguishing between enantiomers is crucial in chemistry and pharmacology. Existing optical methods rely on enantiospecific three-photon electric-dipole transitions, requiring phase locking, three-photon resonance, and precise beam control, limiting their practicality. Here, we propose an optical method that eliminates these constraints by applying a static electric field, which breaks a symmetry combining rotation and time reversal, leading to distinct two-photon selection rules for enantiomers. This enables selective excitation of a target enantiomer using two beams without phase locking or intensity control, greatly improving the feasibility of optical enantiomer differentiation.