A Stern-Gerlach separator of chiral enantiomers based on the Casimir-Polder potential

Abstract

We propose a method to separate enantiomers using parity violation in the Casimir-Polder potential between chiral mirrors and chiral molecules. The proposed setup involves a molecular beam composed of chiral molecules passing through a planar cavity consisting of two chiral mirrors. Enantiomers of opposite handedness are deflected differently due to a chiral dependence of the Casimir-Polder potential resulting in the separation of the enantiomers. Our setup provides an alternative experimental tool for enantiomer separation, as well as shedding light on the fundamental properties of the Casimir-Polder potential.

arXiv comment9 pages, 7 figures, version to appear in Physical Review A

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Cited by in corpus (13)

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• Effective two-level models for highly efficient inner-state enantio-separation based on cyclic three-level systems of chiral molecules
• Enantiodetection of chiral molecules via two-dimensional spectroscopy
• Fast enantioconversion of chiral mixtures based on a four-level double-$\Delta$ model
• Enantiomer superpositions from matter-wave interference of chiral molecules
• Medium-assisted van der Waals dispersion interactions involving chiral molecules
• Macroscopic quantum electrodynamics theory of resonance energy transfer involving chiral molecules
• Evading thermal population influence in enantiomeric-specific state transfer based on a cyclic three-level system via ro-vibrational transitions
• Enantiomeric excess determination based on nonreciprocal transition induced spectral line elimination
• Enantiodiscrimination of chiral molecules via quantum correlation function
• Optical-pumping enantio-conversion of chiral mixtures in presence of tunneling between chiral states
• Spectroscopic footprints of quantum friction in nonreciprocal and chiral media
• Requirements for probing chiral Casimir-Polder forces in a molecular Talbot-Lau interferometer