Intraband optical activity of semiconductor nanocrystals

Here we review our three recently developed analytical models describing the intraband optical activity of semiconductor nanocrystals, which is induced by screw dislocations, ionic impurities, or irregularities of the nanocrystal surface. The models predict that semiconductor nanocrystals can exhibit strong optical activity upon intraband transitions and have large dissymmetry of magnetic-dipole absorption. The developed models can be used to interpret experimental circular dichroism spectra of nanocrystals and to advance the existing techniques of enantioseparation, biosensing, and chiral chemistry.