Superchiral Surface Waves for All-Optical Enantiomer Separation

Abstract

We introduce the use of superchiral surface waves for the all-optical separation of chiral compounds. Using a combination of electrodynamics modeling and analytical techniques, we show that the proposed approach provides chiral optical forces two orders of magnitude larger than those obtained with circularly polarized plane waves. Superchiral surface waves allow for enantiomer separation on spatial, temporal and size scales than would not be achievable with alternative techniques, thus representing a viable route towards all-optical enantiomer separation.