N. Bowering et al., Asymmetry in photoelectron emission from chiral molecules induced by circularly polarized light, PHYS REV L, 86(7), 2001, pp. 1187-1190
In photoionization of free, unoriented chiral molecules with circularly pol
arized radiation, a significant circular dichroism, i.e., an asymmetry in t
he forward-backward electron emission, has been observed in the photoelectr
on angular distribution. This leads also to an asymmetry in the momentum tr
ansfer to the photoions. The spectra for the left- and right-handed enantio
mers of bromocamphor exhibit asymmetries up to several percent which vary a
s a function of orbital binding energy. This enantioselective: effect can s
imilarly occur for biomolecules with handedness, like amino acids, and may
thus be a contributing factor related to the origin of the terrestrial biom
olecular homochirality.