Circular dichroism in valence photoelectron spectroscopy of free unoriented chiral molecules: Camphor and bromocamphor

The circular dichroism in the photoelectron angular distribution was investigated for valence photoionization of randomly oriented pure enantiomers of camphor and bromocamphor molecules using circularly polarized light in the vacuum ultraviolet. The forward-backward electron emission spectra were recorded simultaneously with two spectrometers at several opposite angles relative to the propagation direction of the photon beam and compared for each of the two substances. Measurements were also carried out for reversed light helicity and opposite molecular handedness. For the left- and right-handed enantiomers of both molecules we observed asymmetries of comparable magnitude up to several percent. The measured asymmetry parameters vary strongly for different orbital binding energies and also for the selected photon energies in the valence region. The results for both molecules are compared. They suggest a strong influence of the final states on the asymmetry, depending on the chiral geometry of the molecular electronic structure, as well as a significant dependence on the initial states involved. They also confirm theoretical predictions describing the effect in pure electric-dipole approximation.