The Beginner's Guide to Chiral Plasmonics: Mostly Harmless Theory and the Design of Large-Area Substrates

Chiral plasmonics is a fascinating research field that is attractive to scientists from diverse backgrounds. Physicists study light-matter interactions, chemists seek ways to analyze enantiomeric molecules, biologists study living objects, and material engineers focus on scalable production processes. Successful access to this emergent field for an interdisciplinary community depends on overcoming three main issues. First, understanding the physical background of chiral plasmonics requires proper introduction in easy language. Second, pitfalls in the characterization of chiroplasmonic features can prevent accurate interpretation. Third, simple and robust methods capable of covering macroscopic substrate areas must be available. This tutorial-style review addresses these issues with the goal to provide a comprehensive introduction into chiral plasmonic nanostructures. It starts with a brief introduction of the relevant physics involved in chiral light-matter interactions. A brief guide about how to adequately characterize samples follows. Subsequently, an overview of fabrication techniques that produce chiral substrates over large areas is given, and the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches are discussed. The focus is on simple and robust processes that do not require clean room facilities and can be implemented by a much larger scientific audience.

Automated summary

Chiral plasmonics, an intriguing research field, attracts scientists from diverse backgrounds including physicists, chemists, biologists, and material engineers. Overcoming issues such as understanding the physical background, avoiding pitfalls in characterization, and providing simple and robust methods is crucial for successful access to this interdisciplinary field.