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Published on: July 29, 2008
New electro-optic effect: sum-frequency generation from optically active liquids in the presence of a dc electric
P Fischer1, A D Buckingham, K Beckwitt
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Abstract:
We report the observation of sum-frequency signals that depend linearly on an applied electrostatic field and that change sign with the handedness of an optically active solute. This recently predicted chiral electro-optic effect exists in the electric-dipole approximation. The static electric field gives rise to an electric-field-induced sum-frequency signal (an achiral third-order process) that interferes with the chirality-specific sum-frequency at second order. The cross-terms linear in the electrostatic field constitute the effect and may be used to determine the absolute sign of second- and third-order nonlinear-optical susceptibilities in isotropic media.
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