Tailoring chirality in van der Waals crystals for circular polarization encoded pattern recognition

Tailoring chirality in van der Waals crystals for circular polarization encoded pattern recognition | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Tailoring chirality in van der Waals crystals for circular polarization encoded pattern recognition Du Xiang, Han Wang, Quan Chen, Wenyu Songlu, Gan Yang, Zheng Ren, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6598631/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Circular polarization possesses two orthogonal states that are analogous to the binary logic in digital communication systems, playing a crucial role in information encoding for optical perception and analysis. However, conventional detection of circular polarized light (CPL) and subsequent electrical communication depend on the interconnection of discrete chiroptical and electrical components, imposing significant limitations on the area efficiency and functional integration. Implementing CPL sensitivity (chirality) into optoelectronically active solid-state media with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility has thus been a long-term goal, yet it remains elusive. Here, we report the fusion of chirality and optoelectronic activity in chiral molecules intercalated van der Waals crystals. The resultant highly ordered superlattices exhibit wavelength-dependent chiroptical-electrical behaviour, i.e. the band-specific circular dichroic (CD) features and preferential CPL photoresponse, enabling the transmission of richer information comparing to the wavelength-only encoding scheme. Moreover, the CPL distinguishability of the superlattices is evaluated using the second-harmonic generation (SHG) anisotropy factor g SHG−CD , reaching up to 0.68 which is in the highest level comparing to other representative chiral systems. By employing the superlattices as dual-band circular polarization-selective photosensors, we achieve nearly two-fold enhancement in the pattern recognition accuracy from 50–93.6% through effectively perceiving the information encoded in the polarization dimension. Our work opens a reliable path to solid-state materials with tailored chiral-optoelectronic properties, offering a CMOS-compatible platform for concisely structured heterogeneous hardware. Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Sensors and biosensors Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Applied optics/Optical sensors Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterials.docx Supplementary Materials Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6598631","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":475834506,"identity":"eb59f475-46e8-487d-9abb-c7342bfcc0e9","order_by":0,"name":"Du 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However, conventional detection of circular polarized light (CPL) and subsequent electrical communication depend on the interconnection of discrete chiroptical and electrical components, imposing significant limitations on the area efficiency and functional integration. Implementing CPL sensitivity (chirality) into optoelectronically active solid-state media with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility has thus been a long-term goal, yet it remains elusive. Here, we report the fusion of chirality and optoelectronic activity in chiral molecules intercalated van der Waals crystals. The resultant highly ordered superlattices exhibit wavelength-dependent chiroptical-electrical behaviour, i.e. the band-specific circular dichroic (CD) features and preferential CPL photoresponse, enabling the transmission of richer information comparing to the wavelength-only encoding scheme. 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