Coherent Control of Chiral Molecules

Projektinformationen

COCOCIMO

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 101116866

DOI

10.3030/101116866

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 8 September 2023

Startdatum 1 Januar 2024

Enddatum 31 Dezember 2028

Finanziert unter

• European Research Council (ERC)

Gesamtkosten

€ 1 809 735,00

EU-Beitrag

€ 1 809 735,00

Koordiniert durch

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - COCOCIMO (Coherent Control of Chiral Molecules)

Berichtszeitraum: 2024-01-01 bis 2026-06-30

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

The research in COCOCIMO aims at establishing quantum control over chiral molecules.
For this, we pursue two research lines. One research line explores the development of novel spectroscopic methods. This has a main focus on schemes to gain full control over the population in internal quantum states of selected enantiomers of chiral molecules. The second research line targets the manipulation of external degrees of freedom of complex molecules using matter-wave diffraction. Here, we will incorporate quantum-state selective matter-wave diffraction at an optical grating. A combination of both research lines will allow us to spatially separate chiral molecules even starting from a racemic sample.

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

In the first reporting period, we accomplished near-complete chiral selection in rotational states. Before the research in COCOCIMO, enantiomer-specific state transfer was facing two fundamental limitations. First, for all currently experimentally accessible internal temperatures of chiral molecules (at lowest a fraction of a Kelvin) all rotational states of a triad of rotational states are populated. Second, for all triads of rotational states apart for the ones only involving J=0 and J=1, multiple Rabi frequencies per transition limit the achievable efficiency of ESST. This is due to the orientational degeneracy of rotational quantum states.
We have recently realized near-ideal experimental conditions for enantiomer-specific state transfer by combining optical and microwave methods. In our experiments, we overcome the previous limitation due to thermal population in all participating rotational states. In our study, we circumvent the limitation of ESST due to orientational degeneracy by targeting a triad of rotational states connected to the absolute ground state. We have shown that 96% state-specific enantiomeric purity can be obtained from a racemic mixture. This work has been published in Nature Communications 15, 7441 (2024).

For future experiments targeted at quantum-state selective matter-wave diffraction, we characterized a promising target molecule, 1-phenylethanol. We performed an extensive high-resolution spectroscopy study to determine the rotational energy level structure in the electronic ground and S1 electronically excited state. This work has been published in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 27, 22906-22910 (2025). In addition, we have made important steps forward to setting up from scratch the novel matter-wave diffraction experiment.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

The accomplishment of near-complete quantum state control for a chosen enantiomer of a chiral molecule for rotational states connected to the absolute ground state is defining the current state-of-the-art.