Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Parrish, Katherine A

Titel

Investigating Chiral Light-Matter Interactions in Photonic Materials

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Circular dichroism (CD), i.e., the differential absorption by a sample of left and right circularly polarized light, is a well-known phenomenon with significant implications for many areas of research, though the general weakness of CD signals limits its functional scope. This dissertation explores unconventional chiral light-matter interactions in photonic materials and the methods by which these may be enhanced.A phenomenon observed in some oriented materials is apparent circular dichroism (ACD), a differential absorption of left and right circularly polarized light that is opposite for counterpropagating light. In contrast to conventional circular dichroism, which originates from a sample’s 3D chirality and is independent of the direction of light propagation, ACD is the result of an interference between linear birefringence and linear dichroism in a material exhibiting 2D chirality. In this dissertation, I discuss the realization of a 2D chiral microcavity: by embedding ACD-active organic thin films in planar Fabry-Pérot microcavities, we demonstrated enhanced chiroptical signals over an order of magnitude greater than those exhibited by the isolated thin films. Engineering such strong asymmetric transmission in microcavities could enable a variety of chiral light-matter phenomena with applications in quantum informatics and chiral lasing. I also present the first experimental demonstration of ACD by a centrosymmetric inorganic material, Li2Co3(SeO3)4, which has potential for use in similar applications. Finally, I summarize my work towards realizing enantioselective photocatalysis through the use of hyperbolic metamaterials which increase the optical chirality of light.