A new technique involving terahertz light has enabled the creation of chiral states in non-chiral materials, offering exciting possibilities for future technological applications.
Chirality is a key property of matter that plays a crucial role in many biological, chemical, and physical processes. In chiral solids, this property enables unique interactions with chiral molecules and polarized light, making them valuable for applications in catalysis, sensing, and optical devices. However, chirality in these materials is typically fixed during their formation—once a crystal is grown, its left- and right-handed forms, or enantiomers, cannot be switched without melting and recrystallizing it.
Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) and the University of Oxford have discovered a way to induce chirality in a non-chiral crystal using terahertz light. This breakthrough allows them to create either left- or right-handed enantiomers on demand. Published in Science, this finding opens exciting new possibilities for studying and controlling complex materials in non-equilibrium conditions.
Chirality and Crystal Structure
Chirality describes objects that cannot be perfectly aligned with their mirror images, no matter how they are rotated or moved. A common example is the difference between our left and right hands. In chiral crystals, the way atoms are arranged gives the material a specific “handedness,” which can affect properties such as how it interacts with light and electricity.
Researchers from the Hamburg-Oxford collaboration studied a special class of non-chiral crystals known as antiferro-chirals. These crystals are similar to antiferromagnetic materials, where magnetic moments align in opposite directions in a staggered pattern, canceling out the overall magnetization. In an antiferro-chiral crystal, equal amounts of left- and right-handed substructures exist within each unit cell, making the overall structure non-chiral.
Breakthrough in Chirality Induction
The research team, led by Andrea Cavalleri, used terahertz light to lift this balance in the non-chiral material boron phosphate (BPO4), in this way inducing finite chirality on an ultrafast time scale.
“We exploit a mechanism termed nonlinear phononics,” says Zhiyang Zeng, lead author of this work. “By exciting a specific terahertz frequency vibrational mode, which displaces the crystal lattice along the coordinates of other modes in the material, we created a chiral state that survives for several picoseconds,” he added.
“Notably, by rotating the polarization of the terahertz light by 90 degrees, we could selectively induce either a left- or right-handed chiral structure,” continues fellow author Michael Först.
Potential Applications and Future Outlook
“This discovery opens up new possibilities for the dynamical control of matter at the atomic level,” says Andrea Cavalleri, group leader at the MPSD. “We are excited to see potential applications of this technology and how it can be used to create unique functionalities. The ability to induce chirality in non-chiral materials could lead to new applications in ultrafast memory devices or even more sophisticated optoelectronic platforms.”
Reference: “Photo-induced chirality in a nonchiral crystal” by Z. Zeng, M. Först, M. Fechner, M. Buzzi, E. B. Amuah, C. Putzke, P. J. W. Moll, D. Prabhakaran, P. G. Radaelli and A. Cavalleri, 23 January 2025, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adr4713
This work received financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft via the Cluster of Excellence ‘CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter’. The MPSD is a member of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), a joint enterprise with DESY and the University of Hamburg.
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1 Comment
Notably, by rotating the polarization of the terahertz light by 90 degrees, we could selectively induce either a left- or right-handed chiral structure.
GOOD.
Ask the researchers:
1. Is the uncertainty principle scientific?
2. Is the chiral structure you observed high-dimensional spacetime material or low dimensional spacetime material?
3. How do you determine that two substances in high-level spacetime are chiral structure to each other?
4. What is the spacetime background ofthe terahertz light?
5. Can space be a fluid with so many floating and moving objects in space?
6. If space is a fluid, what physical characteristics should it have?
Scientific research guided by correct theories can enable researchers to think more.
According to the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), spins create everything, spins shape the world. There are substantial distinctions between Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) and traditional physical theories. Grounded in the inviscid and absolutely incompressible spaces, TVT introduces the concept of topological phase transitions and employs topological principles to elucidate the formation and evolution of matter in the universe, as well as the impact of interactions between topological vortices and anti-vortices on spacetime dynamics and thermodynamics.
Within TVT, low-dimensional spacetime matter serves as the foundation for high-dimensional spacetime matter, and the hierarchical structure of matter and its interaction mechanisms challenge conventional macroscopic and microscopic interpretations. The conflict between Quantum Physics and Classical Physics can be attributed to their differing focuses: Quantum Physics emphasizes low-dimensional spacetime matter, whereas Classical Physics centers on high-dimensional spacetime matter.
Subatomic particles in the quantum world often defy the familiar rules of the physical world. The fact repeatedly suggests that the familiar rules of the physical world are pseudoscience. In the familiar rules of the physical world, two sets of cobalt-60 can form the mirror image of each other by rotating in opposite directions, and can receive heavy rewards.
Does Science magazine respect science? Please witness the grand performance of the so-called academic publications. https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-854286.
If the researchers are truly interested in science, please read: The Application of Inviscid and Absolutely Incompressible Spaces in Engineering Simulation (https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-870077).