Why chiral molecules polarize electron spins so strongly
In plain words
Measured spin polarizations through chiral molecules reach tens of percent. The relativistic effect that links spin to motion, spin-orbit coupling, is only a few milli-electronvolts (a tiny energy) in carbon, which predicts effects hundreds of times smaller.
Precise statement
Explain spin polarizations P of 10 to 60 percent reported in photoemission through chiral monolayers and in magnetoconductance of chiral molecular junctions, given atomic spin-orbit coupling constants of about 3 meV (C) to 20 meV (O), and much smaller effective couplings in the molecular orbitals. An answer is a microscopic mechanism with no fitted parameters that reproduces P, its sign versus handedness, and its dependence on molecular length and temperature.
What would settle it
A first-principles theory reproducing quantitative CISS data on a benchmark system measured consistently in several laboratories.
Status in the literature
Unverified note: it names recent work and was partly written without a live literature search; it awaits a check by an editor.
Reviews from 2022 to 2024 report that realistic single-particle spin-orbit models give at most a few percent polarization and no mechanism is accepted.
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See also
- Related Size of spin polarization in photoinduced electron transfer across chiral bridges
- Related Magnitude of the orbital Hall effect and orbital torques
- Related Do enantiomers adsorb differently on oppositely magnetized surfaces?
- Related Mechanism of enantiomer-selective adsorption on magnetized surfaces
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