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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 3: Chiral Molecules

MO 3.2: Talk

Monday, March 9, 2020, 14:30–14:45, f102

Enantiomer-specific state transfer between rotational levels of cold, chiral molecules — •Johannes Bischoff, Alicia O. Hernandez-Castillo, Ju Hyeon Lee, Marco De Pas, Gerard Meijer, and Sandra Eibenberger-Arias — Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany

Chiral molecules are important in nature and exist in one of two mirror-image versions (enantiomers), that cannot be transformed into each other by mere rotation or translation. The understanding and control of chiral molecules plays a crucial role in many biological processes in the human body and therefore in drug development. However, most physical properties of enantiomers are identical, making chiral analysis challenging. The enantiomer-specific state transfer¹ method was recently developed. It can selectively populate or depopulate a rotational level of an enantiomer. This method builds on microwave three-wave mixing², which allows for detecting chiral molecules enantiomer-specifically using microwave spectroscopy. We have designed, built, and characterized a compact spectrometer capable of performing chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and electronic spectroscopy. By combining optical methods with microwave spectroscopy, we seek to maximize the state-specific enantiomeric enrichment. Recent experimental results and details on the new spectrometer will be discussed.
1. Eibenberger et al 2017. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(12), 123002.
2. Patterson et al 2013. Nature, 497(7450), 475.