Related papers: Chirality and angular momentum in optical radiatio…
We examine the recently introduced measure of chirality of a monochromatic optical field [Y. Tang and A. E. Cohen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 163901 (2010)] using the momentum (plane-wave) representation and helicity basis. Our analysis…
Chirality is ubiquitous from microscopic to macroscopic phenomena in physics and biology, such as fermionic interactions and DNA duplication. In photonics, chirality has traditionally represented differentiated optical responses for right…
For paraxial and non-paraxial light, numerous measures of electromagnetic attribute are expressible in terms of photon annihilation and creation. Accordingly, energy, angular momentum and chirality measures acquire a consistent…
Optical chirality density is widely used as a scalar measure of the chiral properties of electromagnetic fields and their interaction with matter. However, in anisotropic and structured media, a single scalar quantity is generally…
Several dynamical properties such as energy, momentum, angular momentum, and optical helicity have been recently reexamined in dispersive and lossless media. Here, we address a parallel derivation for the optical chirality, extending it so…
Optical beams with a new and distinctive type of helicity have become the subject of much recent interest. While circularly polarised light comprises photons with spin angular momentum, these optically engineered 'twisted beams' (optical…
Optical chirality density is a measure of the local handedness of electromagnetic fields. Like energy density, it may be absorbed or scattered through the interaction between light and matter. Here, we utilize the conservation of optical…
Circular dichroism is the differential rate of absorption of right- and left-handed circularly polarized light by chiral particles. Optical vortices which convey orbital angular momentum (OAM) possess a chirality associated with the…
Chiral light-matter interactions have traditionally been understood in terms of electric-magnetic dipolar interference driven by light with spin angular momentum. Here, we show that optical chirality can also originate from the orbital…
It has been long recognized that the spatial polarization of the electronic clouds in molecules, and the spatial arrangements of atoms into chiral molecular structures, play crucial roles in physics, chemistry and biology. However, these…
The phenomenon of molecular optical activity manifests itself as the rotation of the plane of linear polarization when light passes through chiral media. Measurements of optical activity and its wavelength dependence, optical rotatory…
Recently, Tang and Cohen (Science 332, 333, 2011) have demonstrated a scheme to enhance the chiral response of molecules, which relies on the use of circularly polarized light in a standing wave configuration. Here we show a new type of…
Light is one of the most powerful and precise tools allowing us to control, shape and create new phases of matter. In this task, the magnetic component of a light wave has so far played a unique role in defining the wave's helicity, but its…
We calculate optical forces and torques exerted on a chiral dipole by chiral light fields and reveal genuinely chiral forces in combining the chiral contents of both light field and dipolar matter. Here, the optical chirality is…
Photons with spin angular momentum possess intrinsic chirality which underpins many phenomena including nonlinear optics1, quantum optics2, topological photonics3 and chiroptics4. Intrinsic chirality is weak in natural materials, and recent…
Chirality introduces intriguing topological, electronic, and spin-optronic properties to molecules and solids. In this work, we provide a quantitative metric for the degree of chirality in solids, independent of the type of system and the…
Chirality refers to a geometric phenomenon in which objects are not superimposable on their mirror image. Structures made of nano-scale chiral elements can display chiroptical effects, such as dichroism for left- and right- handed…
Chiral optical effects are generally quantified along some specific incident directions of exciting waves (especially for extrinsic chiralities of achiral structures) or defined as direction-independent properties by averaging the responses…
Optical chirality (OC) - one of the fundamental quantities of electromagnetic fields - corresponds to the instantaneous chirality of light. It has been utilized for exploring chiral light-matter interactions in linear optics, but has not…
Electron chirality has been proposed as a microscopic quantity that characterizes electronic handedness, yet its underlying control parameter has not been clearly identified. Furthermore, its applicability is limited to systems with…