Defocused emission patterns from chiral fluorophores: Application to chiral axis orientation determination

Experimental defocused fluorescence emission patterns from single chiral molecular systems are compared to semiclassical simulations as a means for a priori determination of chiral axis orientation in single-molecule systems. Using a coupled-oscillator model as a radiation source, we show that the basic features of defocused emission patterns from chiral fluorophores can be recovered and suggests the feasibility of chiral axis orientation determination (within some limits) in single-molecule systems.