Ohio University Distinguished Professor Alexander Govorov of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute (NQPI) in the College of Arts and Sciences has co-authored a new study published in Science Advances with collaborators at Wuhan University in China and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Italy.

The study, “Ultrasensitive Chiral Detection by Nonlinear Chiroptics in Spiral Plasmonic Metastructures Surpasses Linear Limits,” addresses a major challenge in chemical and biological analysis: detecting molecular chirality, or “handedness.” Chirality plays a critical role in biochemical processes and drug function, yet conventional chiroptical measurements often produce weak signals that make sensitive detection difficult.

Most chiral chemicals (enantiomers) are synthesized with both left-and right-handed forms. Often, only one enantiomer is biologically active, while the other may be ineffective or even harmful. A classic example is thalidomide, in which one enantiomer provides sedative and antinausea effects, while the other can cause birth defects.