Nonlinear Amplification of Chirality in Self-Assembled Plasmonic Nanostructures

Molecular chirality transfer and amplification is at the heart of the fundamental understanding of chiral origin and fabrication of artificial chiral materials. We investigate here the nonlinear amplification effect in the chiral transfer from small molecules to assembled plasmonic nanoparticles. Our results show clearly a recognizable nonlinear behavior of the electronic and plasmonic circular dichroism activities, demonstrating the validity of the majority-rules principle operating in both the three-dimensional interface-confined molecularly chiral environment and the assembled plasmonic nanoparticles. Such twin majority-rules effects from the self-assembled organic-inorganic nanocomposite system have not been reported previously. By establishing a direct correlation between the dynamic template of the molecularly chiral environment and the nonlinear chiral amplification in the nanoparticle assemblies, this study may provide an insightful understanding of the hierarchical and cooperative chiral information transfer from molecular levels to nanoscales.

Automated summary

This study investigates the nonlinear amplification effect in molecular chirality transfer, demonstrating recognizable nonlinear behavior in electronic and plasmonic circular dichroism activities. The majority-rules principle is validated in both the molecularly chiral environment and assembled plasmonic nanoparticles, revealing novel twin majority-rules effects from the self-assembled organic-inorganic nanocomposite system. By establishing a direct correlation between dynamic molecular chiral environment template and nonlinear chiral amplification in nanoparticle assemblies, this study provides insight into hierarchical and cooperative chiral information transfer from molecular levels to nanoscales.