Rectification of Vibrational Energy Transfer in Driven Chiral Molecules

Jichen Feng; Ethan Abraham; Joseph E. Subotnik; Abraham Nitzan

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arXiv · 2509.00324

Rectification of Vibrational Energy Transfer in Driven Chiral Molecules

Jichen Feng·Ethan Abraham·Joseph E. Subotnik·Abraham Nitzan

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Abstract

We show that the combination of molecular chirality and phase-controlled driving can lead to rectification of vibrational energy transfer. We demonstrate this effect using classical models of (1) a single helical chain and (2) a more realistic model of polyethylene double helix. We examine the effect of the driving frequency, polarization, and temperature on this phenomenon. Notably, we find that the direction and magnitude of the observed directionality preference depend on the driving frequency and phase, and that the effect persists at room temperature.

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Jichen Feng, Ethan Abraham, Joseph E. Subotnik, Abraham Nitzan. 2025-08-30. Rectification of Vibrational Energy Transfer in Driven Chiral Molecules. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.00324

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