Chirality sensing employing PT-symmetric and other resonant gain-loss optical systems

TL;DR

This paper explores how PT-symmetric and other resonant gain-loss optical systems can significantly enhance molecular chirality detection signals, improving sensitivity and tunability in optical sensing methods.

Contribution

It demonstrates the use of gain and gain-loss media, especially PT-symmetric systems, to amplify chiro-optical signals and enable tunable, high-sensitivity chirality sensing.

Findings

Large enhancements in circular dichroism and dissymmetry factor g with gain-loss bilayers.

Maximum CD enhancement occurs at the lasing threshold of PT systems.

Gain materials can be integrated with nanophotonics for improved chirality detection.

Abstract

Molecular chirality detection and enantiomer discrimination are very important issues for many areas of science and technology, prompting intensive investigations via optical methods. However, these methods are hindered by the intrinsically weak nature of chiro-optical signals. Here, we investigate and demonstrate the potential of gain materials and of combined gain-loss media to enhance these signals. Specifically, we show that the proper combination of a thin chiral layer with a gain-loss bilayer can lead to large enhancements of both the circular dichroism (CD) response and the dissymmetry factor, g, compared to the chiral layer alone. The most pronounced enhancements are obtained in the case of a Parity-Time (PT) symmetric gain-loss bilayer, while deviations from the exact PT symmetry lead to only moderate deterioration of the CD and g response, demonstrating also the possibility of tuning the system response by tuning the gain layer properties. In the case of PT-symmetric gain-loss bilayers we found that the largest CD enhancement is obtained at the system lasing threshold, while the g-enhancements at the anisotropic transmission resonances of the systems. Our results clearly demonstrate the potential of gain materials in chirality detection. Moreover, our gain-involving approach can be applied in conjunction with most of the nanophotonics/nanostructures-based approaches that have been already proposed for chirality sensing, further enhancing the performance/output of both approaches.