Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Characterization of SiN Integrated Optical Phased Arrays on a Wafer-Scale Test Station
Published on: April 1, 2020
Analytic Optimization of Near-Field Optical Chirality Enhancement
Christian Kramer1, Martin Schäferling2, Thomas Weiss2
1Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Würzburg , Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
We present an analytic derivation for the enhancement of local optical chirality in the near field of plasmonic nanostructures by tuning the far-field polarization of external light. We illustrate the results by means of simulations with an achiral and a chiral nanostructure assembly and demonstrate that local optical chirality is significantly enhanced with respect to circular polarization in free space. The optimal external far-field polarizations are different from both circular and linear. Symmetry properties of the nanostructure can be exploited to determine whether the optimal far-field polarization is circular. Furthermore, the optimal far-field polarization depends on the frequency, which results in complex-shaped laser pulses for broadband optimization.
Related Concept Videos
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
Chirality in Nature
Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement (NOE)
Chirality
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...
Prochirality

