Strong Differential Photoion Circular Dichroism in Strong-Field Ionization of Chiral Molecules

Abstract

We investigate the differential ionization probability of chiral molecules in the strong field regime as a function of the helicity of the incident light. To this end, we analyze the fourfold ionization of bromochlorofluoromethane (CHBrClF) with subsequent fragmentation into four charged fragments and different dissociation channels of the singly ionized methyloxirane. We observe a variation of the differential ionization probability in a range of several percent. Accordingly, we conclude that the helicity of light is a quantity that should be considered for the theoretical description of the strong field ionization rate of chiral molecules.

Fragmentation dynamics of doubly charged camphor molecule following C 1s Auger decay

“…Nonetheless, a detailed theoretical study requires complex computation to decipher the finer details of the dissociation channels. Since a kinematically complete scheme is used to detect both electrons and ions, this study sets a base for further studies like exploring the photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) post ionisation of O 1s of camphor (as observed for carbonyl C 1s of camphor 26 ), probing photoion circular dichroism (PICD) in strong field ionisation of camphor, as previously seen for other molecules [39][40][41] or the impact of ro-vibronically cooling of such a molecular system in a He nanodroplet host environment. Additionally, it motivates the study of interaction of radiation with large chiral molecules significant in biological applications.…”

“…[35][36][37][38] Moreover, dichroism is observed in the photoion emission of other chiral and achiral molecule. [39][40][41] Though the first study 42 on the fragmentation of camphor following photoexcitation at the carbon K-edge was using the electronion-ion coincidence technique, [43][44][45] some questions, such as how does a dicationic molecule dissociate in kinematically complete scheme? were left unanswered, and hence motivating this study.…”

Elliptic dichroism in strong-field ionization of atoms subjected to tailored laser fields

“…Dichroic effects were observed in one-photon ionization and subsequently also in multiphoton ionization, 5,6 above-threshold ionization (ATI) 7 and, in general, in strong-field ionization. 8–11 Currently, in addition to the photo-ion circular dichroism (PICD), 12 PECD appears to open up the best avenue towards efficient chiral recognition. 4,13 The term PECD has also been used for backward/forward asymmetries caused by orthogonally polarized two-color (OTC) fields.…”

Influence of the emission site on the photoelectron circular dichroism in trifluoromethyloxirane

“…The effect of possible fluctuations is eliminated by normalization for differential signals. 24 Besides on structural properties of the molecule, PECD also depends on many parameters, such as the photoelectron energy, 25,26 possible intermediate states populated during the ionization process, 27,28 or molecular resonances. 29,30 In addition, the orbital from which the photoelectron is ionized influences the PECD signal.…”