Roel Tempelaar

Chiroptics involves the interaction of matter with light of a select circular polarization. Such polarization is in direct correspondence with the photonic spin state. Chiroptical interactions thus provide opportunities for transducing spin states between light and matter, with ramifications for quantum information applications and spin chemistry. A requisite for such transduction is that the electronic and optical properties of the involved matter states are fully governed by the electron spins, as found in spintronic phenomena. In this talk, I will discuss how strong light–matter coupling opens up new opportunities for transducing spin polarization between optical modes and molecules/materials through the formation of chiral polaritons – hybrid light–matter excitations. I will present challenges arising when producing chiral polaritons by means of conventional Fabry–Pérot cavities, and highlight how a chiroptical phenomenon called “apparent circular dichroism” could provide a practical means of realizing polaritons involving desirable spin polarizations.