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Published on: August 18, 2017
Photoinduced separation of chiral isomers in a classical buffer gas
1Physics Department of the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Abstract:
We develop a theory of photoinduced drift of chiral molecules or small particles in classical buffer gases. In the absence of a magnetic field there exists a flux of chiral molecules, provided the electromagnetic field is circularly polarized. It has opposite signs for different chiral isomers. In the presence of a magnetic field the flux can be also induced by a linearly polarized (or unpolarized) electromagnetic field. The magnitude of the flux is not proportional to either linear or orbital momentum of the electromagnetic field.
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