pith. sign in

arxiv: 2604.08300 · v1 · submitted 2026-04-09 · ⚛️ physics.optics

Electrically-driven chiral emission from plasmonic tunnel junctions

Yuanyang Xie , Alexey V. Krasavin , Anatoly V. Zayats This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-10 17:59 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification ⚛️ physics.optics
keywords chiral emissionplasmonic tunnel junctionsnanohelicoidsvortex beamspin angular momentumorbital angular momentumnanoscale light generationquantum tunneling
0
0 comments X

The pith

Integrating tunnel junctions with chiral nanohelicoids generates nanoscale chiral vortex light beams driven by tunneling electrons.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper shows how to produce chiral light at the scale of individual nanoparticles using only electrical current. By placing a tunnel junction next to a gold nanohelicoid that has a twisted shape, electrons tunneling across the junction excite special light modes in the particle. These modes then radiate as a beam that carries both spin and orbital angular momentum with a clear preference for one handedness. This approach matters because it turns a simple electrical bias into a source of structured light without needing lasers or other external illumination. A reader would care if they want compact, electrically controlled chiral light for future displays or quantum devices.

Core claim

The tunnelling-driven resonant excitation of chiral dipolar modes of the nanohelicoids results in emission of a vortex light beam possessing both spin angular momentum with handedness selectivity of over 0.8 and its orbital counterpart, equal in magnitude and opposite in sign.

What carries the argument

Chiral plasmonic nanohelicoids whose chiral dipolar modes are resonantly excited by electrons tunneling through an adjacent junction, converting the tunneling current into a directed vortex beam.

Load-bearing premise

The observed light emission arises directly from the resonant chiral modes excited by the tunneling electrons without significant interference from other optical modes or fabrication defects.

What would settle it

If measurements of the emitted light show no vortex structure or a handedness selectivity below the reported level when the nanohelicoids are properly integrated with the tunnel junctions, the central claim would be falsified.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2604.08300 by Alexey V. Krasavin, Anatoly V. Zayats, Yuanyang Xie.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: Chiral light emission from plasmonic chiral tunnel junctions. a, Schematics of a chiral tunnelling device based on a plasmonic helicoid. b, Energy-level diagram and schematics of the inelastic electron tunnelling pathway, leading to the excitation of chiral plasmonic modes coupled to chiral light emission. c, SEM image of the fabricated helicoid nanoparticles. d, e, Ex￾perimentally measured (d) and numeric… view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: Tunnelling-driven resonant excitation of chiral plasmonic modes. a, Experimen￾tally measured I-V curve for one of the tunnelling devices shown in Fig. 1f. b, c, Experimentally measured (b) and numerically simulated (c) emission spectra from a single nanohelicoid chiral tunnel junction under a 2.5 V forward bias, collected inside a NA = 0.70 solid angle form the substrate side. d, e, The corresponding exper… view at source ↗
Figure 3
Figure 3. Figure 3: Numerically simulated near-field origin of the plasmonically-assisted chiral emission. a, Schematics of emission pathways into air and substrate with and without a top gold electrode. b, c, The simulated emission spectra for LCP (solid lines) and RCP (dashed lines) components emitted into the air hemisphere (green lines) and the substrate hemisphere (purple lines) with (b) and without (c) the top gold elec… view at source ↗
Figure 4
Figure 4. Figure 4: Vorticity of light generated from chiral tunnel junction. a, Comparison of OAM generation from chiral dipoles (OAM generated) and a linear electric dipole (an equal in-phase sum of LCP and RCP chiral dipoles, no OAM generated). The fieldmaps represent, from top to bottom: (1) intensity, (2–4) phase evolution at discrete time intervals with arrows showing the direction of electric field vectors, and (5) rad… view at source ↗
read the original abstract

Chirality plays a crucial role in a broad range of processes including light-matter interactions in physics, chemistry and biology, which opens up new applications in nanophotonics, quantum technologies and photochemistry. Quantum tunnelling provides a promising mechanism for light generation at the nanoscale, however the realisation of chiral light emission has remained elusive. Here, by integrating tunnel junctions with chiral plasmonic nanohelicoids, we achieve nanoscale generation of chiral light at a single-particle level. The tunnelling-driven resonant excitation of chiral dipolar modes of the nanohelicoids results in emission of a vortex light beam possessing both spin angular momentum with handedness selectivity of over 0.8 and its orbital counterpart, equal in magnitude and opposite in sign. The developed approach offers a new means for sculpturing photon spin generation at the nanoscale, highlighting its potential for next-generation optical components in display and AR/VR applications, as well as quantum information processing and photochemistry.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

2 major / 2 minor

Summary. The manuscript reports the integration of plasmonic tunnel junctions with chiral nanohelicoids to generate electrically-driven chiral light at the single-particle level. Tunneling electrons are claimed to resonantly excite chiral dipolar plasmonic modes, producing a vortex beam with spin angular momentum (SAM) handedness selectivity >0.8 and orbital angular momentum (OAM) of equal magnitude but opposite sign.

Significance. If substantiated, the result would provide a new electrically-driven route to nanoscale chiral photon sources with controllable SAM and OAM, with potential impact on nanophotonics, quantum information, and photochemistry. The approach combines tunneling excitation with geometric chirality in a compact platform.

major comments (2)
  1. [far-field characterization] The central claim that tunneling-driven excitation produces a pure chiral dipolar mode (and thus the reported SAM/OAM vortex with >0.8 selectivity) is load-bearing but unsupported by quantitative evidence. No multipole decomposition of the measured far-field Stokes parameters or phase maps is presented to rule out contributions from higher-order modes or fabrication-induced asymmetries (see far-field characterization and discussion sections).
  2. [results] The handedness selectivity >0.8 and equal-magnitude opposite OAM are stated without error bars, statistical analysis across multiple devices, or controls for non-chiral contributions. This undermines the assertion of selective chiral dipolar excitation (see results on emission spectra and polarization measurements).
minor comments (2)
  1. [methods] Figure captions and methods lack sufficient detail on nanohelicoid fabrication tolerances, junction bias conditions, and collection optics to allow reproduction.
  2. [introduction] Notation for SAM and OAM signs and magnitudes should be clarified with explicit definitions in the introduction or theory section.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for their careful and constructive review of our manuscript. We address the major comments point by point below and will revise the manuscript to incorporate additional quantitative analyses and statistical details as outlined in our responses.

read point-by-point responses

  1. Referee: The central claim that tunneling-driven excitation produces a pure chiral dipolar mode (and thus the reported SAM/OAM vortex with >0.8 selectivity) is load-bearing but unsupported by quantitative evidence. No multipole decomposition of the measured far-field Stokes parameters or phase maps is presented to rule out contributions from higher-order modes or fabrication-induced asymmetries (see far-field characterization and discussion sections).

    Authors: We agree that a multipole decomposition would strengthen the quantitative support for the dominance of the chiral dipolar mode. The far-field Stokes parameters and phase maps presented in the far-field characterization section are consistent with the expected behavior of a chiral dipole, but we acknowledge that explicit decomposition would better rule out higher-order contributions or asymmetries. In the revised manuscript, we will add a multipole decomposition of the measured far-field data to quantify the chiral dipolar contribution and assess any minor higher-order or fabrication-related effects. revision: yes

  2. Referee: The handedness selectivity >0.8 and equal-magnitude opposite OAM are stated without error bars, statistical analysis across multiple devices, or controls for non-chiral contributions. This undermines the assertion of selective chiral dipolar excitation (see results on emission spectra and polarization measurements).

    Authors: We appreciate the referee's emphasis on statistical rigor and controls. The reported selectivity exceeding 0.8 was derived from polarization measurements on representative devices, but we recognize the value of error bars, multi-device statistics, and controls. In the revised manuscript, we will include error bars from repeated measurements, statistical analysis across multiple devices, and control data from achiral structures to confirm the chiral selectivity and support the selective excitation claim. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: experimental demonstration without derivations or self-referential predictions

full rationale

The paper reports an experimental integration of tunnel junctions with chiral plasmonic nanohelicoids to generate chiral light at the nanoscale. The abstract and description frame the result as an observed outcome of tunneling-driven resonant excitation of chiral dipolar modes leading to vortex beam emission with specific SAM/OAM properties. No equations, derivations, fitted parameters, or first-principles predictions are presented that could reduce to inputs by construction. The central claim rests on physical mechanism description and measured selectivity (>0.8), not on any self-definitional loop, renamed empirical pattern, or load-bearing self-citation chain. This is a standard experimental report with no detectable circularity in its (absent) derivation chain.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 1 axioms · 0 invented entities

Review limited to abstract; no explicit free parameters, new entities, or ad-hoc axioms stated. Relies on standard quantum tunneling and plasmonics.

axioms (1)
  • domain assumption Quantum tunneling in metal-insulator-metal junctions can excite plasmonic modes in adjacent nanostructures.
    Implicit in the description of tunneling-driven resonant excitation.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5466 in / 1291 out tokens · 55951 ms · 2026-05-10T17:59:27.634359+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Lean theorems connected to this paper

Citations machine-checked in the Pith Canon. Every link opens the source theorem in the public Lean library.

  • IndisputableMonolith/Foundation/AlexanderDuality.lean alexander_duality_circle_linking echoes
    ?
    echoes

    ECHOES: this paper passage has the same mathematical shape or conceptual pattern as the Recognition theorem, but is not a direct formal dependency.

    The tunnelling-driven resonant excitation of chiral dipolar modes of the nanohelicoids results in emission of a vortex light beam possessing both spin angular momentum with handedness selectivity of over 0.8 and its orbital counterpart, equal in magnitude and opposite in sign.

What do these tags mean?
matches
The paper's claim is directly supported by a theorem in the formal canon.
supports
The theorem supports part of the paper's argument, but the paper may add assumptions or extra steps.
extends
The paper goes beyond the formal theorem; the theorem is a base layer rather than the whole result.
uses
The paper appears to rely on the theorem as machinery.
contradicts
The paper's claim conflicts with a theorem or certificate in the canon.
unclear
Pith found a possible connection, but the passage is too broad, indirect, or ambiguous to say the theorem truly supports the claim.

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

25 extracted references · 25 canonical work pages

  1. [1]

    Wan, L., Liu, Y., Fuchter, M. J. & Yan, B. Anomalous circularly polarized light emission in organic light-emitting diodes caused by orbital–momentum locking.Nature Photonics17, 193–199 (2023)

    work page 2023

  2. [2]

    Chen, Y.et al.Compact spin-valley-locked perovskite emission.Nature Materials22, 1065– 1070 (2023)

    work page 2023

  3. [3]

    Nature Photonics18, 658–668 (2024)

    Furlan, F.et al.Chiral materials and mechanisms for circularly polarized light-emitting diodes. Nature Photonics18, 658–668 (2024)

    work page 2024

  4. [4]

    Furlan, F.et al.Electrical control of photon spin angular momentum in organic electrolumi- nescent materials.Nature Photonics19, 1361–1366 (2025). 12

    work page 2025

  5. [5]

    Aita, V., Zaleska, A., Putley, H. J. & Zayats, A. V. Polarization conversion and optical meron topologies in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials.ACS Photonics12, 2909– 2915 (2025)

    work page 2025

  6. [6]

    Optica10, 232–238 (2023)

    Nguyen, A.et al.Large circular dichroism in the emission from an incandescent metasurface. Optica10, 232–238 (2023)

    work page 2023

  7. [7]

    & Munekata, H

    Nishizawa, N., Nishibayashi, K. & Munekata, H. Pure circular polarization electrolumines- cence at room temperature with spin-polarized light-emitting diodes.Proceedings of the Na- tional Academy of Sciences114, 1783–1788 (2017)

    work page 2017

  8. [8]

    Zinna, F.et al.Design of lanthanide-based oleds with remarkable circularly polarized electro- luminescence.Advanced Functional Materials27, 1603719 (2017)

    work page 2017

  9. [9]

    & Song, Q

    Zhang, X., Liu, Y., Han, J., Kivshar, Y. & Song, Q. Chiral emission from resonant metasur- faces.Science377, 1215–1218 (2022)

    work page 2022

  10. [10]

    & Kotov, N

    Jiang, S. & Kotov, N. A. Circular polarized light emission in chiral inorganic nanomaterials. Advanced Materials35, 2108431 (2023)

    work page 2023

  11. [11]

    Dorrah, A. H. & Capasso, F. Tunable structured light with flat optics.Science376, eabi6860 (2022)

    work page 2022

  12. [12]

    Li, Y.et al.Chiral plasmonic nanocavities enable efficient circularly polarized luminescence through tailored optical chirality.ACS nano19, 34567–34574 (2025)

    work page 2025

  13. [13]

    & Sun, H

    Wang, Z., Wang, Y., Adamo, G., Teng, J. & Sun, H. Induced optical chirality and circularly polarized emission from achiral cdse/zns quantum dots via resonantly coupling with plasmonic chiral metasurfaces.Laser & Photonics Reviews13, 1800276 (2019)

    work page 2019

  14. [14]

    & Ding, T

    Liang, K., Li, Y., Fan, S. & Ding, T. Room-temperature circularly polarized single photon emission from eu3+/organic complexes coupled to chiral plasmonic nanocavity.Nano Letters 25, 14825–14831 (2025)

    work page 2025

  15. [15]

    Nature Communications16, 1658 (2025)

    Zheng, J.et al.Circularly polarized oleds from chiral plasmonic nanoparticle-molecule hybrids. Nature Communications16, 1658 (2025)

    work page 2025

  16. [16]

    Wang, Z.et al.Upconversion electroluminescence in 2d semiconductors integrated with plas- monic tunnel junctions.Nature nanotechnology19, 993–999 (2024)

    work page 2024

  17. [17]

    & Novotny, L

    Parzefall, M. & Novotny, L. Light at the end of the tunnel.ACS Photonics5, 4195–4202 (2018). 13

    work page 2018

  18. [18]

    V., Nasir, M

    Wang, P., Krasavin, A. V., Nasir, M. E., Dickson, W. & Zayats, A. V. Reactive tunnel junctions in electrically driven plasmonic nanorod metamaterials.Nature Nanotechnology13, 159–164 (2018)

    work page 2018

  19. [19]

    & Tsang, J

    Kirtley, J., Theis, T. & Tsang, J. Light emission from tunnel junctions on gratings.Physical Review B24, 5650 (1981)

    work page 1981

  20. [20]

    Lee, J.et al.Plasmonic biosensor enabled by resonant quantum tunnelling.Nature Photonics 1–8 (2025)

    work page 2025

  21. [21]

    Li, W.et al.Vortex beam nanofocusing and optical skyrmion generation via hyperbolic metamaterials.Nanophotonics14, 4545–4553 (2025)

    work page 2025

  22. [22]

    V., Roth, D

    Xie, Y., Krasavin, A. V., Roth, D. J. & Zayats, A. V. Unidirectional chiral scattering from single enantiomeric plasmonic nanoparticles.Nature Communications16, 1125 (2025)

    work page 2025

  23. [23]

    Rendell, R. W. & Scalapino, D. J. Surface plasmons confined by microstructures on tunnel junctions.Phys. Rev. B24, 3276–3294 (1981)

    work page 1981

  24. [24]

    Parzefall, M.et al.Antenna-coupled photon emission from hexagonal boron nitride tunnel junctions.Nature Nanotechnology10, 1058–1063 (2015)

    work page 2015

  25. [25]

    S., Neugebauer, M

    Eismann, J. S., Neugebauer, M. & Banzer, P. Exciting a chiral dipole moment in an achiral nanostructure.Optica5, 954–959 (2018). Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Prof. Ki Tae Nam for providing a CAD geometry of the nanohelicoid (432 helicoid III) used in the simulations; Dr. Anastasiia Zaleska for the help with sample preparation; Dr.Tam Bui a...

    work page 2018