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Circularly Polarized Lasing and Ultrafast Optical Helicity Switching in Chiral Perovskite Microcavities
Chun Zhou1, Jiqing Tan2, Yongsheng Hu2
1State Key Laboratory of Quantum Functional Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|July 25, 2026
Summary
Researchers engineered chiral perovskite microcavities to amplify weak molecular chirality into robust circularly polarized lasing. This breakthrough enables ultrafast helicity switching for chiral photonics and quantum devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Photonics
- Quantum Optics
Background:
- Achieving robust, ultrafast control of optical helicity is crucial for terahertz photonic switching and chirality-sensitive quantum devices.
- Existing methods face challenges due to the small intrinsic chiral perturbation of molecular emitters, hindering robust helicity bias and ultrafast switching.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer chiral R/S quasi-2D perovskite microcavities (R/S-2DPMs) for chirality amplification.
- To establish a hierarchical framework for enhancing weak molecular chirality into strong optical signals.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of chiral R/S quasi-2D perovskite microcavities.
- Characterization using polarization-resolved measurements to quantify dissymmetry amplification.
- Time-resolved spectroscopy to investigate ultrafast helicity switching dynamics.
Main Results:
- R/S-2DPMs support single-mode lasing with quality factors ~10^3.
- Significant amplification of dissymmetry observed, from molecular (g_mol ~ 10^-4) to spontaneous emission (g_sp ~ 10^-2) and laser emission (g_laser ~ 0.78).
- Opposite ultrafast helicity switching demonstrated on 1-3 ps timescales in enantiomeric microcavities.
Conclusions:
- Chiral quasi-2D perovskite microcavities serve as a compact platform for converting weak chirality into strong optical signals.
- The study establishes a method for achieving robust circularly polarized lasing and ultrafast helicity switching.
- Opens new avenues for chiral photonics and helicity-programmable coherent light sources.
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