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Giant Photoinduced Chirality in Thin Film Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5
Author(s) -
Shanmugam Janaki,
Borisenko Konstantin B.,
Luers Andrew,
Ewart Paul,
Shah Priyav,
Williams Benjamin A. O.,
Craig Christopher,
Hewak Daniel W.,
Hussain Rohanah,
Jávorfi Tamás,
Siligardi Giuliano,
Bosman Michel,
Kirkland Angus I.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.201900449
Subject(s) - chirality (physics) , circular dichroism , materials science , synchrotron , circular polarization , thin film , optics , laser , optoelectronics , crystallography , nanotechnology , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , nambu–jona lasinio model , quark , microstrip , chiral symmetry breaking
Induction, tuning, or amplification of chirality in various classes of materials and probing their chiral response are subjects of growing research. Herein, a large chiral signal that is rapidly imprinted in achiral amorphous Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 (GST) thin films measured using synchrotron circular dichroism spectroscopy is reported. The chirality is induced by illuminating the films with pulsed circularly polarized (chiral) laser light for less than 2 μs in total. The effects of laser fluence and film thickness on the chiral response are described. The correlation of the optical results with structural studies by electron diffraction and model simulations suggests that alignment of reamorphized fragments in the crystallized film along the electric field vector of the light forms the centers that are responsible for the observed chirality. These results suggest opportunities for practical applications of this phenomenon and provide avenues for further studies of chirality induction in materials with impact in a wide range of disciplines.