We have obtained a connection between the chiro-optical activity and the spin-orbit interaction for a model system of an electron constrained to a helix, taking explicitly spin into account, in the presence of an electromagnetic field as a perturbation. Because of the chiral nature of the system, spatial inversion symmetry is broken, which in turn induces a connection between the electric and the magnetic responses of the system to the external electromagnetic field, that is absent in achiral systems. We discuss the influence on the decoherence that breaks time-reversal symmetry and generate a spin polarization, and a spin-dependent rotation, via the Rosenfeld’s tensor. This relationship between the optical response and the Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) responses, can guide new efforts in the fields of reticular chemistry and material design for spintronics, and spin-selective chemistry.

Contact : Bertrand Berche