Distinguishing left- and right-handed molecules by two-step coherent pulses

TL;DR

This paper proposes a two-step laser pulse method to differentiate and separate left- and right-handed chiral molecules based on their quantum cyclic-transition structures, enabling selective trapping or ionization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel two-step coherent pulse technique leveraging cyclic-transition properties of chiral molecules for enantiomer discrimination.

Findings

Left- and right-handed molecules can be selectively trapped or ionized.

The method effectively separates enantiomers based on their quantum states.

The approach demonstrates potential for precise chiral molecule analysis.

Abstract

Chiral molecules with broken parity symmetries can be modeled as quantum systems with cyclic-transition structures. By using these novel properties, we design two-step laser pulses to distinguish left- and right-handed molecules from the enantiomers. After the applied pulse drivings, one kind chiral molecules are trapped in coherent population trapping state, while the other ones are pumped to the highest states for ionizations. Then, different chiral molecules can be separated.