Depolarization properties of a periodic sequence of chiral and material layers

In the region where two bulk phases meet, an intricate electric charge distribution arises due to charge transfer, ion adsorption, molecular orientation, and charge distortion. This complex distribution is commonly referred to as the electrical double layer.When a solid electrode interfaces with ions in an electrolyte solution, the speed of electron transfer dictates the rates of oxidation and reduction. The electrode acquires a charge through the escape of atoms into the solution as cations or...

The presence of a dielectric medium in a capacitor not only changes the voltage and capacitance but also affects the electric field. In general, dielectrics can be of two types: polar and nonpolar. In a polar dielectric, the positive and negative charges in the molecules are separated by a distance and hence have a permanent dipole moment. In contrast, no such charge separation exists in a nonpolar dielectric, however the nonpolar molecules get polarized in the presence of an external electric...

A neutral atom consists of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by a negatively charged electron cloud. When placed in an external electric field, the external electric force pulls the electrons and nucleus apart, opposite to the intrinsic attraction between the nucleus and the electrons. The opposing forces balance each other with a slight shift between the center of masses of the nucleus and the electron cloud, resulting in a polarized atom. On the other hand, a few molecules, like water,...

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid. The...

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

When placed in an external electric field, a dielectric material gets polarized. The charge density in the dielectric material is given by the sum of the bound and free charge densities, while the total charge density can also be written in terms of the total electric field. The bound charge density can be measured in terms of polarization, leading to the relationship between electric displacement and polarization.