Reconfigurable construction of all-dielectric chiral metamaterials on solid substrates

We apply a novel optical technique – optothermally-gated photon nudging – to construct all-dielectric chiral metamaterials with silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) and silicon nanowires (SiNWs). Through coordinating optical heating and radiation-pressure forces, a SiNP is manipulated and delivered to the vicinity of a SiNW to form chiral nanostructures. By dynamically moving the SiNP along the nanowire from one side to the other end, the chirality of the nanostructure can be tailored on-demand. Owing to simultaneous electric and magnetic resonances in dielectric nanostructures, the assembled chiral metamaterials support strong enhancement of optical near-field chirality for high-performance enantiodiscrimination of chiral molecules.