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arXiv · 2606.09097

Helicity-Resolved Spatiotemporal Mapping of Chiral Plexcitons in Helicoids

Abstract

Plasmon-exciton hybrids, or plexcitons, offer deeply subwavelength light-matter interactions with versatile pathways for energy redistribution. Incorporating chirality into such systems is particularly compelling, enabling spin-sensitive optical functionality that can operate on ultrafast timescales and within ultracompact volumes. Despite recent progress in chiral plexcitonic systems, how structural chirality and plasmon-exciton coupling determine chiroptical spectra and ultrafast energy flow remains elusive. Here we realize chiral plexcitons by functionalizing intrinsically chiral gold helicoid nanoparticles with molecular J-aggregates. Within a non-Hermitian framework, we trace the microscopic origin of the helicoid chiroptical response and its coupling to the excitonic transition, revealing how the helicity of light selectively addresses distinct hybrid responses. At the spatiotemporal extreme, we find that the gap-localized response not only enhances polarization-sensitive contrast but also strengthens the local hybrid interaction, leading to accelerated ultrafast relaxation. Together, these space-, time-, and polarization-resolved measurements provide a physically grounded and experimentally benchmarked picture of chiral plexcitonic coupling, identifying chirality as a practical control parameter for selectively steering nanoscale energy pathways and dynamics.

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Jeong Hyun Han, Sankaran Ramesh, Jaeyeon Jo, Pavel Chabera, Ryeong Myeong Kim, Sung Hoon Cho, In Han Ha, Amitav Sahu, Yoonsang Tak, Jiawei Lv, Miyoung Kim, Ki Tae Nam, Tönu Pullerits. 2026-06-08. Helicity-Resolved Spatiotemporal Mapping of Chiral Plexcitons in Helicoids. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.09097

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