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THU: Thursday Contributed Sessions

THU 4: Precise Quantum Molecules: Contributed Session to Symposium

THU 4.2: Talk

Thursday, September 11, 2025, 14:30–14:45, ZHG004

Near-complete chiral selection in rotational quantum states — •Elahe Abdiha, JuHyeon Lee, Shilpa Yadav, Sejun An, Boris G Sartakov, Gerard Meijer, and Sandra Eibenberger-Arias — Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft; Berlin, 14195, Germany

In our work, we accomplish near-complete chiral selection in rotational quantum states [1]. Beyond mere chiral analysis, enantiomer-specific state transfer (ESST) enables the control and manipulation of chiral molecules at the quantum level. We overcome previous limitations of ESST by applying UV laser and microwave radiation to a triad of rotational states connected to the absolute ground state. Our experimental 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. Our work has the potential to significantly advance the experimental methods to measure parity-violation effects in chiral molecules [4].

We will also present our ongoing efforts to address the intrinsic limitation of ESST due to orientational degeneracy of rotational states by incorporating theoretically tailored microwave pulse schemes [5].

[1] Lee et al. Nat. Commun. 15, 7441 (2024)

[2] Eibenberger et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 123002 (2017)

[3] Pérez et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 12512 (2017)

[4] Erez et al. Phys. Rev. X, 13, 041025, (2023)

[5] M. Leibscher et al. Commun. Phys. 5, 110 (2022).

Keywords: Quantum control; chiral molecules