Journal
NATURE PHYSICS
Volume 11, Issue 8, Pages 654-+Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/NPHYS3369
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Funding
- Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Canadian Foundation for Innovation
- Canada Research Chairs
- FRQNT
- MDEIE
- CIPI
- CFI
- ANR [ANR-08-JCJC-0029 HarMoDyn]
- Conseil Regional d'Aquitaine [20091304003 ATTOMOL, 2.1.3-09010502 COLA2]
- European Union (Laserlab)
- European COST Action [CM1204 XLIC]
- EU Marie Curie ITN network CORINF [264951]
- Einstein foundation project Attosecond Electron Dynamics [A-211-55]
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Chiral molecules that are non-superimposable mirror images of each other, known as enantiomers, have identical chemical and physical properties unless they interact with another chiral entity, such as chiral light. Chiroptical(1) effects arising from such interactions are used to detect enantiomers in mixtures and to induce enantioselective synthesis and catalysis. Chiroptical effects often arise from the interplay between light-induced electric- and magnetic-dipole transitions in a molecule and evolve on ultrafast electronic timescales. Here we use high-harmonic generation(2,3) from a randomly oriented gas of molecules subjected to an intense laser field, to probe chiral interactions on these sub-femtosecond timescales. We show that a slight disparity in the laser-driven electron dynamics in the two enantiomers is recorded and amplified by several orders of magnitude in the harmonic spectra. Our work shows that chiroptical detection can go beyond detecting chiral structure(4-7) to resolving and controlling chiral dynamics on electronic timescales.
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