Lifting the mirror symmetry of metal surfaces: decoupling the electronic and physical manifestations of surface chirality.

Naturally occurring metal surfaces possess planes of mirror symmetry on the nanometer-length scale. This mirror symmetry can be lifted and chirality "physically" conveyed onto a surface by adsorbing a chiral molecule. Until now, it has not been known whether the conveying of chirality is limited to just the physical structure or whether it goes deeper and permeates the electronic structure of the underlying surface.

Chiral discrimination within disordered adlayers on metal surfaces.

Using a novel non-linear optical technique enantiomeric excess within a translationally disordered overlayer on a metal surface has been monitored for the first time.