Enantiomer Superpositions from Matter-Wave Interference of Chiral Molecules

Enantiomer Superpositions from Matter-Wave Interference of Chiral Molecules

Molecular matter-wave interferometry enables novel strategies for manipulating the internal mechanical motion of complex molecules. Here, we show how chiral molecules can be prepared in a quantum superposition of two enantiomers by far-field matter-wave diffraction and how the resulting tunneling dy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. X Vol. 11; no. 3; p. 031056
Main Authors: Stickler, Benjamin A., Diekmann, Mira, Berger, Robert, Wang, Daqing
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: College Park American Physical Society 01-09-2021
Subjects:
Chemical reactions
Chirality
Configurations
Dynamic structural analysis
Dynamics
Enantiomers
Energy levels
Far fields
Interferometry
Quantum mechanics
Wave diffraction
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Summary:Molecular matter-wave interferometry enables novel strategies for manipulating the internal mechanical motion of complex molecules. Here, we show how chiral molecules can be prepared in a quantum superposition of two enantiomers by far-field matter-wave diffraction and how the resulting tunneling dynamics can be observed. We determine the impact of rovibrational phase averaging and propose a setup for sensing enantiomer-dependent forces, parity-violating weak interactions, and environment-induced superselection of handedness, as suggested to resolve Hund’s paradox. Using ab initio tunneling calculations, we identify [4]-helicene derivatives as promising candidates to implement the proposal with state-of-the-art techniques. This work opens the door for quantum sensing with chiral molecules.
ISSN:2160-3308
2160-3308
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.11.031056