Photo-orientation of anisotropically absorbing molecules

• DOI: 10.1038/258137a0
• Publication Date: 2005-08-03T17:51:31Z
• Authors: T. ROMANOVSKIS; O. SMITS
• Keywords: Optical Rotation; Circular Dichroism; Coloring Agents; 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

THE action of plane-polarised light on anisotropically absorbing molecules produces an induced anisotropy in an ensemble of molecules, which can be detected by double refringence, dichroism and other optical phenomena. The phenomenon was first observed1 on dye molecules in liquid2, although its nature and mechanism by which it operates remain unexplained—neither can they be explained by the optical Kerr effect2.