Chiral crystallization manipulated by orbital angular momentum of light
Kohei Toyoda, Hao-Tse Su, Katsuhiko Miyamoto, Teruki Sugiyama, Takashige Omatsu
Abstract
We present what we believe to be the demonstration of optical vortex trapping and chiral crystallization of sodium chlorate (NaClO 3 ). In this work, the chirality of NaClO 3 crystals is selectively controlled by altering the helicity (helical direction of the wavefront) of an irradiating optical vortex laser beam. A high crystal enantiomeric excess of 57% is achieved. These results demonstrate that the orbital angular momentum of an irradiating optical vortex laser beam twists the crystal during its polymorphic transition from a metastable achiral crystal to a stable chiral crystal. This work will offer fundamental insights into the dynamics and mechanism of enantioselective control in chiral crystallization and the origin of homochirality.