Propensity rules for photoelectron circular dichroism in strong field ionization of chiral molecules

Abstract

Chiral molecules ionized by circularly polarized fields produce a photoelectron current orthogonal to the polarization plane. This current has opposite directions for opposite enantiomers and provides an extremely sensitive probe of molecular handedness. Recently, such photoelectron currents have been measured in the strong-field ionization regime, where they may serve as an ultrafast probe of molecular chirality. Here we provide a mechanism for the emergence of such strong-field photoelectron currents in terms of two propensity rules that link the properties of the initial electronic chiral state to the direction of the photoelectron current.