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This discovery challenges previous assumptions in regards to the practical limits of quantum state control of chiral molecules and paves the best way for brand new research directions in molecular physics and beyond.
Chiral molecules, which exist as two non-superimposable mirror image versions called enantiomers, just like our left and right hands, are fundamental to the material of life. The power to manage these molecules and their quantum states has profound implications, from spatial separation of enantiomers within the gas phase to testing hypotheses in regards to the origins of life’s homochirality — the preference for one mirror image over the opposite in biological systems.
Until now, the scientific community believed that perfect control over these molecules’ quantum states was theoretically possible but practically unattainable. The team on the Fritz Haber Institute, nonetheless, has proven otherwise. By creating nearly ideal experimental conditions, they’ve shown that a 96% purity within the quantum state of 1 enantiomer (one among the 2 mirror images) is achievable, with only 4% of the opposite, moving significantly closer to the goal of 100% selectivity.
This breakthrough was made possible through using tailored microwave fields combined with ultraviolet radiation, allowing for unprecedented control over the molecules. Within the experiment, a beam of molecules, with their rotational motions mostly suppressed (cooled to a rotational temperature of roughly 1 degree above absolute zero), traverses three interaction regions where it’s exposed to resonant UV and microwave radiation. Because of this, marking a big advancement in molecular beam experiments, chosen rotational quantum states contain almost exclusively the chosen enantiomer of a chiral molecule.
The brand new experiment opens up latest possibilities for studying fundamental physics and chemistry effects involving chiral molecules. The team’s method offers a brand new avenue for exploring parity violation in chiral molecules — a phenomenon predicted by theory but not yet observed experimentally. This might have profound implications for our understanding of the universe’s fundamental (a)symmetries.
In essence, this study shows that an almost complete, enantiomer-specific state transfer is achievable and that this method could be applied to the massive majority of chiral molecules. It is anticipated that this discovery will open up necessary latest opportunities in molecular physics, including latest research approaches and potential applications.
