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Oxygen-specific photoelectron circular dichroism in gas-phase fenchone

Juliette Leroux1,2, Dominik Stemer3,*, Bruno Credidio3, Filippa Dudda2, Emilia Heikura4, Akhila Jose2, Alice Judt2,5, Catmarna Küstner-Wetekam4, Moritz Zander2 et al.

Nikolay M. Novikovskiy4, Thorsten Otto6, Parth Patil2,6, Gunnar Petersen2, Sara Savio2, Nicolas Velasquez3, Niclas Wieland2, Lasse Wülfing7, Philipp V. Demekhin4,†, Florian Trinter3,‡, and Markus Ilchen2,6,§

  • *Present address: Physikalisches Institut, Universität Münster, 48149, Münster.
  • †Contact author: demekhin@physik.uni-kassel.de
  • ‡Contact author: trinter@fhi-berlin.mpg.de
  • §Contact author: markus.ilchen@uni-hamburg.de
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013340 – Published 30 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cgf3-cdpv

Abstract

Understanding the light-driven responses of chiral molecular systems at a fundamental level—electronically—via photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) provides a pathway to unlock the intricate mechanisms governing the functionality of chiral molecules. The specific role of oxygen atoms in chiral compounds remains under-explored, despite their pivotal role in numerous functional systems. We report a joint experimental and theoretical study of the PECD of O 1s electrons from the randomly oriented chiral molecule fenchone (C10H16O) in the gas phase across a kinetic-energy range from 3 to 15 eV. We observe a substantial forward-backward asymmetry in the electron emission patterns across several eV, which is well reproduced by relaxed-core Hartree-Fock calculations. Our results provide a site-specific perspective on the chiral sensitivity of an oxygen atom directly connected to the stereocenter of a chiral molecule.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013340– Published 30 March, 2026
  • Received 27 October 2025
  • Accepted 24 February 2026
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