Chiral supramolecular assembly to enhance the magneto-optical rotation of organic materials
Connections between magnetic field induced optical activity and chirality have a rich and complicated history. Although the broken inversion symmetry of chiral molecules generates 'natural' optical activity, magnetic optical activity is generated by breaking time reversal symmetry. Therefore, molecular chirality is not expected to influence magnetic optical phenomena, such as Faraday rotation. Here we show that the chiral supramolecular assembly of polymers can result in large Faraday effects (Verdet constants = 10<sup>5</sup> °T<sup>-1</sup>m<sup>-1</sup>). This strong Faraday rotation, which is amongst the highest value known for organic materials, originates from the so-called Faraday B term. Typically, B term Faraday responses are weak. We demonstrate large amplification through excitonic coupling within the supramolecular assembly, where the chirality of the system controls the assembly formed. These observations provide an alternative means to enhance the Faraday rotation of low symmetry systems and clarify the role of chirality in previous reported materials.
Authors
- Robert P. Cameron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8809-5459)
- Jochen R. Brandt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7082-6201)
- Zachary P. Nelson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3949-682X)
- Abdusalom A. Suleymanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0630-8412)
- Steven E. Kooi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0755-7461)
- Matthew J. Fuchter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1767-7072)
- Timothy M. Swager (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3577-0510)
- Giuliano Siligardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4667-6423)
- Jessica Wade (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2866-3941)
- D.L. Reger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9407-3408)
- Léo Delage-Laurin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9174-5416)
- Louis Minion
Institutions
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- Diamond Light Source (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (US)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64663-w
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.87
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Diamond Light Source
- Imperial College London
- Science Foundation Ireland
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council