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Observation of magneto-chiral dichroism

Nature volume 390, pages 493–494 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Arago's discovery in 1811 of natural optical activity in chiral crystals and Faraday's discovery in 1846 of magnetically induced optical activity have contributed much to our understanding of the wave nature of light and the electronic properties of molecules. Both effects are manifest as a rotation in the polarization of transmitted light: the former is due to the intrinsic properties of media that lack mirror symmetry, whereas the latter (which occurs in all materials) is due to magnetic-field-induced changes in the optical properties. The apparent similarity of these two effects motivated Pasteur to search in vain for a link between the two phenomena1. Such a link—which can be regarded as arising either from a magnetically induced change of natural optical activity or from the difference in magnetic optical activity of the two enantiomers of a chiral medium—has been predicted to exist2,3,4,5,6,7, although it is expected to be very weak. Here we report the experimental observation of this ‘magneto-chiral’ optical effect and a demonstration of its enantioselectivity. The existence of this effect may be important in the context of fundamental interactions between light and matter, and in molecular spectroscopy.

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Figure 1: Luminescence of the Eu((±)tfc)3 complex dissolved in deuterated dimethyl sulphoxide, excited around 350 nm.
Figure 2: Schematic set-up for detecting magneto-chiral luminescence anisotropy.
Figure 3: Magneto-chiral luminescence anisotropy of Eu((±)tfc)3 complexes, dissolved in deuterated dimethyl sulphoxide (5% wt/wt), as a function of luminescence wavelength, with excitation around 350 nm.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Krath for technical assistance, E. W. Meijer and B. Voss for providing samples, and P. Wyder, G. Martinez, L. Jansen, A. Sparenberg and B. van Tiggelen for critical reading of the manuscript. The Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory is a ‘laboratoire conventionné aux universités UJF et INP de Grenoble’.

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  1. Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Max Planck Institut für Festkörperfrschung/CNRS, BP 166, Grenoble, F-38042, France

    G. L. J. A. Rikken & E. Raupach

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  1. G. L. J. A. Rikken
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  2. E. Raupach
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Correspondence to G. L. J. A. Rikken.

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Rikken, G., Raupach, E. Observation of magneto-chiral dichroism. Nature 390, 493–494 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/37323

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