Unidirectional chiral scattering from single enantiomeric plasmonic nanoparticles

Abstract

Abstract Controlling scattering and routing of chiral light at the nanoscale is important for optical information processing and imaging, quantum technologies as well as optical manipulation. Here, we introduce a concept of rotating chiral dipoles in order to achieve unidirectional chiral scattering. Implementing this concept by engineering multipole excitations in helicoidal plasmonic nanoparticles, we experimentally demonstrate enantio-sensitive and highly-directional forward scattering of circularly polarised light. The intensity of this highly-directional scattering is defined by the mutual relation between the handedness of the incident light and the chirality of the structure. The concept of rotating chiral dipoles offers numerous opportunities for engineering scattering from chiral nanostructures and optical nano-antennas paving the way for innovative designs and applications of chiral light-matter interactions.