Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 90: Sensing, Active Structures and other Applications

O 90.6: Talk

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 16:15–16:30, MA 144

Plasmonic chirality and chiral sensing: effects and limitations — •Maxim Nesterov, Xinghui Yin, Martin Schäferling, Thomas Weiss, and Harald Giessen — 4th Physics Insitute and Research Centre SCoPE, University of Stuttgart, 70550 Stuttgart, Germany

Objects which cannot be superimposed with their mirror image are called chiral. Many bio-molecules such as, e.g., the essential amino acids are chiral. One common method to probe their chiral nature is the interaction with circularly polarized light, which leads to a difference in the absorption depending on both the handedness of the molecule and that of the light. However, this so-called circular dichroism (CD) signal is small for most molecules, which renders such analysis rather challenging, especially when small volumes should be probed.

It has been suggested to use plasmonic structures to enhance the light-matter interaction of the chiral analyte. Following this approach, we present thorough numerical investigations of the electrodynamic interaction between chiral media and chiral plasmonic structures in planar as well as in three-dimensional configurations. We find that chiral plasmonic resonances can significantly enhance the chiral response of bio-molecule solutions. A detailed analysis of the CD enhancement mechanisms shows the dominating role of induced chirality.