Enhanced chiral sensing by optical whispering gallery mode microresonator.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Chemical Sensing
• Biomedical Technology

Background:

• Chiral sensing is critical across biochemistry, biomedicine, and food industries.
• Conventional methods often overlook resonator quality factor, limiting sensitivity.
• Enhancing chiral near fields is the traditional focus, neglecting resonator properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical microresonator for enhanced chiral sensing.
• To utilize the high quality factor of WGM resonators to amplify chiral signals.
• To achieve a background-free and highly sensitive chiroptical signal.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical microresonator.
• Exploiting the high quality factor (Q-factor) of the microresonator.
• Investigating the relationship between enhancement factor, Q-factor, and analyte thickness.

Main Results:

• Achieved a chiral enhancement factor exceeding two orders of magnitude.
• Demonstrated a background-free chiroptical signal.
• Established a linear dependence of enhancement on Q-factor and exponential increase with decreasing analyte thickness.

Conclusions:

• The WGM optical microresonator offers a new pathway for highly sensitive chiral detection.
• This approach overcomes limitations of traditional chiral sensing methods.
• Promotes the integration of advanced chiral sensing into optical devices.