On the relative populations of excited state enantiomers, for randomly orientated molecules, obtained through the use of circularly polarized pulsed lasers

The possibility of obtaining different populations of the left- vs. the right-handed excited molecular states, arising from the pulsed laser excitation of the ground states of enantiomers of a chiral molecule, is discussed with particular emphasis on randomly orientated absorbing molecules. The implications with respect to separating enantiomers in a racemic mixture are discussed briefly. A model two-level chiral molecule is considered and the interaction of the enantiomers with the pulse is studied within the rotating wave approximation.