Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2025
09:28
Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: January 10, 2017
8.2K
Floquet-engineered chiral-induced spin selectivity
1Department of Molecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan.
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|August 3, 2023
Summary
Chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) is demonstrated in achiral systems using laser fields. This opens new avenues for controlling electron spin in materials for spintronics and chemical applications.
Area of Science:
- Quantum mechanics
- Condensed matter physics
- Materials science
Background:
- Electron spin control is vital for material properties and applications like spintronics.
- Chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) links electron spin to molecular chirality.
- Existing CISS phenomena are limited to chiral molecules.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) in achiral systems using external laser fields.
- To explore the potential of Floquet engineering for spin-dependent electron transport.
- To determine conditions for achieving high spin polarization in driven systems.
Main Methods:
- Application of Floquet theory to time-periodically driven systems.
- Theoretical investigation of spin-dependent electron transport in a two-terminal setup.
- Analysis of electron transport through achiral and helical molecules under laser irradiation.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated CISS in achiral systems driven by circularly polarized laser fields.
- Achieved near-unity spin polarization under specific conditions (high light intensity, low dephasing, optimal chemical potential).
- Showed that combining chiral molecules with light-matter interactions broadens the energy range for high spin polarization.
Conclusions:
- Floquet engineering enables CISS in achiral systems, expanding its applicability.
- External laser fields offer a tunable method for controlling electron spin selectivity.
- This research paves the way for novel spintronic devices and tailored chemical reactions.
Related Concept Videos
02:30Chirality in Nature
13.5K
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.
13.5K
02:05Prochirality
3.8K
The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...
3.8K
02:30Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
5.8K
Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
5.8K
02:25Chirality
24.4K
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...
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...
24.4K
02:57Sharpless Epoxidation
4.1K
The conversion of allylic alcohols into epoxides using the chiral catalyst was discovered by K. Barry Sharpless and is known as Sharpless epoxidation. The use of a chiral catalyst enables the formation of one enantiomer of the product in excess. This chiral catalyst is mainly a chiral complex of titanium tetraisopropoxide and tartrate ester (specific stereoisomer). The stereoisomer used in the chiral catalyst dictates the formation of the enantiomer of the product. In other words, the use of...
4.1K
02:24Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
17.2K
It is essential to understand the difference between chiral and achiral interactions and the implications thereof in optical activity and their applications. Just as our feet, which are chiral, interact uniquely with chiral objects, such as a pair of shoes, but identically with achiral socks, enantiomers of a molecule exhibit different properties only when they interact with other chiral media. An example of a significant implication from this facet is the phenomenon known as optical activity,...
17.2K