Full quantum state control of chiral molecules
Abstract
Controlling the internal quantum states of chiral molecules for a selected enantiomer has a wide range of fundamental applications. Using tailored microwave fields, a chosen rotational state can be enriched for a selected enantiomer, even starting from a racemic mixture. This enables rapid switching between samples of different enantiomers in a given state, holding great promise, for instance, for measuring parity violation in chiral molecules. Achieving full enantiomer-specific state transfer is a key requirement for this and many other applications. Although theoretically feasible, achieving the required experimental conditions seemed unrealistic. Here, we realize near-ideal conditions, overcoming both the limitations of thermal population and spatial degeneracy in rotational states. Our results show that 96% state-specific enantiomeric purity can be obtained from a racemic mixture, in an approach that is universally applicable to all chiral molecules of C1 symmetry.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2402.17308,
title = {Full quantum state control of chiral molecules},
author = {JuHyeon Lee and Elahe Abdiha and Boris G. Sartakov and Gerard Meijer and Sandra Eibenberger-Arias},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.17308},
year = {2024}
}