Abstract
Chiral molecules, like our left and right hands, exist as two non-superimposable mirror images called enantiomers and are essential to life. Controlling these molecules and their quantum states has profound implications, ranging from separating enantiomers in the gas phase to exploring the origins of homochirality—life’s preference for one mirror image over the other. Recently, quantum-state control of chiral molecules has been demonstrated using enantiomer-specific state transfer (ESST), which employs three phase-controlled microwave pulses. This technique extends the field of state-selected molecular beam research to include chiral molecules.
However, early ESST studies were limited by the thermal population of rotational states and the spatial degeneracy of these states. This thesis presents advancements that address these challenges. By integrating UV radiation with microwave-based ESST, we selectively deplete one of the rotational states, significantly improving transfer efficiency. This enhanced efficiency enabled the first quantitative study of ESST. Subsequently, by depleting two rotational states, we achieved near-perfect ESST, demonstrating near-complete quantum-state control of chiral molecules. These advancements hold great promise for practical applications, such as improving parity-violation measurements in chiral molecules and enabling spatial separation of enantiomers.
