Superchiral fields generated by nanostructures and their applications for chiral sensing

Huizhen Zhang, Weixuan Zhang, Saisai Hou, Rongyao Wang, Xiangdong Zhang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Chirality is ubiquitous in natural world. Although with similar physical and chemical properties, chiral enantiomerscould play different roles in biochemical processes. Discrimination of chiral enantiomers is extremely important in biochemical, analytical chemistry, and pharmaceutical industries. Conventional chiroptical spectroscopic methods are disadvantageous at a limited detection sensitivity because of the weak signals of natural chiral molecules. Recently, superchiral fields were proposed to effectively enhance the interaction between light and molecules, allowing for ultrasensitive chiral detection. Intensive theoretical and experimental works have been devoted to generation of superchiral fields based on artificial nanostructures and their application in ultrasensitive chiral sensing. In this review, we present a survey on these works. We begin with the introduction of chiral properties of electromagnetic fields. Then, the optical chirality enhancement and ultrasensitive chiral detection based on chiral and achiral nanostructures are discussed respectively. Finally, we give a short summary and a perspective for the future ultrasensitive chiral sensing.

Original languageEnglish
Article number113303
JournalChinese Physics B
Volume30
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2022

Keywords

  • achiral nanostructures
  • chiral detection
  • chiral nanostructures
  • superchiral fields

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Superchiral fields generated by nanostructures and their applications for chiral sensing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this