Chiral Poly(fluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (PFBT) and Nanocomposites with Gold Nanoparticles: Plasmonically and Structurally Enhanced Chirality

Materials with large chiral optical activity at visible wavelengths are of great interest in photonics, particularly as a route to chiral optical metamaterials. Here, we demonstrate the plasmonic enhancement of the chiral optical activity of chiral poly(fluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (PFBT) doped with gold nanoparticles. The supramolecular helical organization of polymeric chains with simultaneous dipole dipole interaction of the helically ordered nanoparticles with the polymer and one another results in unprecedented values of chirality parameter (kappa similar to 0.02) at visible wavelengths in thin films.