{
  "id": 600506,
  "title": "New contactless method reveals how mirror-image materials respond differently to light",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/11/new-contactless-method-reveals-how-mirror-image-materials-respond",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-11T20:20:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-08-contactless-method-reveals-mirror-image.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Scientists have developed a contactless method to study how mirror-image materials respond differently to circularly polarized light. This advance allows researchers to probe the materials' structure without building them into complete electronic devices, avoiding issues caused by metal contacts and other device components. The new technique, called circularly polarized time-resolved surface photovoltage (CP-TRSPV), directly measures how electrical charges separate within the materials. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem tested chiral 2D perovskites, materials that come in two mirror-image forms. When exposed to circularly polarized light, the two mirror-image materials responded in opposite ways. One form (R) responded more strongly to right-circularly polarized light, while the other form (S) responded more strongly to left-circularly polarized light. This phenomenon, known as chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS), suggests the material's chiral structure itself is responsible for the effect. The researchers observed that the difference in electrical response was roughly 1,000 times larger than the difference in light absorption. The method could help scientists understand materials for spintronics and optoelectronics, technologies that use electrical charge, light, and electron spin. Potential applications include circularly polarized light detectors and spin-based electronics.",
  "summary": "New research introduces a contactless way to see how mirror-image materials respond differently to circularly polarized light, without first building them into a complete electronic device. The researchers developed a novel method based on light-induced charge separation that allows researchers to directly probe how the material's structure acts like a microscopic filter, influencing how…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}