Nanowerk June 29, 2020
While there are numerous forms of light polarization, only linear and circular polarizations, which have wave motion in a flat sheet or helix, respectively, are typically used. A team of researchers in the US (Rice University, UMass Dartmouth) utilized trochoidal polarizations with cartwheeling wave motion. They demonstrated that single gold nanorod dimers can discriminate between trochoidal fields rotating in opposite directions, which they named trochoidal dichroism. Trochoidal dichroism forms an additional classification of polarized light–matter interaction and could inspire the development of optical studies uniquely sensitive to molecules with cartwheeling charge motion, potentially relevant for probing key light-harvesting antennas…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
SAM and geometry drive distinct polarization-dependent light-matter interactions. (A) Circularly polarized light has a longitudinal SAM vector (SCPL) that couples to electrons with coaligned spins. Credit: PNAS June 29, 2020