Arrays of Nanoscale All-Dielectric Intrinsically Chiral Meta-Device Structures for Molecular Enantiomer Sensing

  • Lu Zhang
  • , Jiajie Chen
  • , Tingxiao Qin
  • , Qiwei Miao
  • , Lei Xu
  • , Mohsen Rahmani
  • , Ting Mei
  • , Wending Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Low-cost, large-area intrinsically chiral meta-devices (ICMDs) exhibiting strong chiroptical responses are of great importance for practical applications in enantiomer sensing, chiral light sources, and polarization-sensitive detection. To date, most ICMDs have been fabricated from plasmonic nanostructures, as the high-resolution nanopatterning required for high-quality dielectric thin films remains technologically challenging and often inaccessible. However, the inherent Ohmic losses of plasmonic materials cause severe broadening of the circular dichroism spectrum, with line widths often over 100 nm in the visible band. As a result, their use in high-precision enantiomer discrimination is fundamentally limited, posing a major constraint for practical applications. To address this issue, we present a scalable fabrication strategy that integrates self-assembly, inductively coupled plasma etching, and glancing angle deposition. This approach enables the realization of low-cost, large-area, all-dielectric ICMDs operating within the visible spectrum. The resulting ICMDs exhibit a pronounced circular dichroism with a narrow line width of 40 nm and support externally distributed superchiral fields. Furthermore, their chiroptical response and optical anisotropy can be dynamically tuned in both the amplitude and resonance wavelength, allowing for dual-parameter optimization. Our symmetry-breaking design paradigm establishes a versatile platform for developing practical ICMDs, effectively bridging the gap between nanophotonic field engineering and macroscopic biochemical sensing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)21542-21550
Number of pages9
JournalACS Applied Nano Materials
Volume8
Issue number44
DOIs
StatePublished - 7 Nov 2025

Keywords

  • biosensors
  • circular dichroism
  • dissymmetry factor
  • enantiodiscrimination
  • intrinsically chiral meta-devices

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