A new ultrafast technique for measuring the terahertz dynamics of chiral molecules: the theory of optical heterodyne-detected Raman-induced Kerr optical activity.
Optical heterodyne-detected Raman-induced Kerr optical activity (OHD-RIKOA) is a nonresonant ultrafast chiroptical technique for measuring the terahertz-frequency Raman spectrum of chirally active modes in liquids, solutions, and glasses of chiral molecules. OHD-RIKOA has the potential to provide much more information on the structure of molecules and the symmetries of librational and vibrational modes than the well-known nonchirally sensitive technique optical heterodyne-detected Raman-induced Kerr-effect spectroscopy (OHD-RIKES). The theory of OHD-RIKOA is presented and possible practical ways of performing the experiments are analyzed.
Wynne
Klaas
K
Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. klaas.wynne@phys.strath.ac.uk