Systems and methods for chiroptical heterodyning

An apparatus for measuring a chiroptical property of a sample, comprising:

• a first modulator that imparts a first modulation onto a probe beam of light at a frequency of ω;
• a second modulator that imparts a second modulation onto the probe beam of light at a frequency of φ, the modulated probe beam of light being transmitted through the sample;
• an analyzing polarizer that receives the modulated probe beam after the second modulator and provides a split beam to a non-linear photo-detector;
• and
• the non-linear photo-detector that mixes the first modulation with the second modulation to analyze frequency components at inter-modulated sidebands, the level of the inter-modulated sidebands being related to the chiroptical property of the sample.

A method for detecting at least one chiral property of an analyte within a sample, comprising:

• passing a polarized light beam being modulated at a first modulation frequency ω through the sample as the sample is exposed to a magnetic field being modulated at a second modulation frequency φ;
• nulling at least a portion of a fundamental component of the polarized light beam;
• detecting, after nulling at least a portion of the fundamental component of the polarized light beam, at least one inter-modulation sideband frequency from the mixed output of a non-linear photo-detector;
• and
• determining the at least one chiral property of the analyte within the sample based upon a parameter of the detected at least one inter-modulation sideband frequency.

An apparatus for measuring a chiroptical property of a sample, comprising:

• a first modulation signal source generating a first modulation signal at a frequency ω;
• a second modulation signal source generating a second modulation signal at a frequency φ;
• a light source coupled to the first modulation signal source, the light source being modulated by the first modulation signal to provide a probe beam;
• a Faraday modulator coupled to the second modulation signal source, the Faraday modulator being capable of receiving the probe beam to impart additional modulation on the probe beam in response to the second modulation signal;
• a sample cell coupled to the output of the Faraday modulator for receiving the probe beam and exposing the sample within the sample cell to the probe beam;
• and
• a non-linear photo-detector that detects at least one inter-modulated sideband associated with the frequency ωof the first modulation signal and the frequency φ of the second modulation signal, the level of the at least one inter-modulated sideband being related to the chiroptical property of the sample.

An apparatus for measuring a chiroptical property of a sample, comprising:

• a first modulation signal source generating a first modulation signal at a frequency ω;
• a second modulation signal source generating a second modulation signal at a frequency φ;
• a broadband light source providing a probe beam;
• an acousto-optical tunable filter receiving the probe beam and capable of modulating the probe beam based upon the first modulation signal;
• a Pockels Cell modulator coupled to the second modulation signal source, the Pockels Cell modulator being capable of receiving the probe beam to impart additional modulation on the probe beam in response to the second modulation signal;
• a sample cell coupled to the output of the Pockels Cell modulator for receiving the probe beam and exposing the sample within the sample cell to the probe beam;
• and
• a non-linear photo-detector that detects at least one inter-modulated sideband associated with the frequency ω of the first modulation signal and the frequency φ of the second modulation signal, the level of the at least one inter-modulated sideband being related to the chiroptical property of the sample.

An apparatus for measuring a chiroptical property of a sample, comprising:

• a first modulation signal source generating a first modulation signal at a frequency ω;
• a second modulation signal source generating a second modulation signal as a Kerr Cell modulation signal at a frequency φ;
• a light source coupled to the first modulation signal source, the light source being modulated by the first modulation signal to provide a probe beam;
• a sample cell coupled to the Kerr Cell modulation signal, the sample cell being capable of receiving the probe beam to impart additional modulation on the probe beam in response to the second modulation signal while exposing the sample within the sample cell to the probe beam;
• and
• a non-linear photo-detector that detects at least one inter-modulated sideband associated with the frequency ω of the first modulation signal and the frequency φ of the second modulation signal, the level of the at least one inter-modulated sideband being related to the chiroptical property of the sample.

An apparatus for measuring a chiroptical property of a sample, comprising:

• a first modulation signal source generating a first modulation signal at a frequency ω;
• a second modulation signal source generating a second modulation signal as a Cotton-Mouton modulation signal at a frequency φ;
• a light source to provide a probe beam;
• a Faraday modulator coupled to the first modulation signal, the Faraday modulator being capable of receiving the probe beam to impart modulation on the probe beam in response to the first modulation signal;
• a sample cell coupled to the Cotton-Mouton modulation signal, the sample cell being capable of receiving the probe beam to impart additional modulation on the probe beam in response to the Cotton-Mouton modulation signal while exposing the sample within the sample cell to the probe beam;
• and
• a non-linear photo-detector that detects at least one inter-modulated sideband associated with the frequency ω of the first modulation signal and the frequency φ of the second modulation signal, the level of the at least one inter-modulated sideband being related to the chiroptical property of the sample.