Enantio-discrimination via light deflection effect

Abstract

We propose a theoretical method for enantio-discrimination based on the light deflection effect in four-level models of chiral molecules. This four-level model consists of a cyclic three-level subsystem coupled by three strong driving fields and an auxiliary level connected to the cyclic three-level subsystem by a weak probe field. It is shown that the induced refractive index for the weak probe field is chirality-dependent. Thus it will lead to chirality-dependent light deflection when the intensities of two of the three strong driving fields are spatially inhomogeneous. As a result, the deflection angle of the weak probe light can be utilized to detect the chirality of pure enantiomers and enantiomeric excess of chiral mixture. Therefore, our method may act as a tool for enantio-discrimination.