Electron Dichroism: Interaction of Spin-polarised Electrons with Chiral Molecules

Abstract

This paper discusses a problem which would be worth studying with (e, 2e) experiments, a technique which has been so successfully used by Erich Weigold: Can spin-polarised electrons distinguish between left- and right-handed molecules? This has been a matter of long-standing discussion and speculation and of controversial experiments. The results presented here show that the attenuation of electron beams passing through chiral molecules is clearly spin-dependent. This is analogous to the circular dichroism of light and is therefore called electron dichroism. The size of the effect agrees with what has been predicted by theoretical estimates.