The Optical Chirality Flux as a Useful Far-Field Probe of Chiral Near Fields

Abstract: To optimize the interaction between chiral matter and highly twisted light, quantities that can help characterize chiral electromagnetic fields near nanostructures are needed. Here, by analogy with Poynting's theorem, we formulate the time-averaged conservation law of optical chirality in lossy dispersive media and identify the optical chirality flux as an ideal far-field observable for characterizing chiral optical near fields. Bounded by the conservation law, we show that it provides precise information, unavailable from circular dichroism spectroscopy, on the magnitude and handedness of highly twisted fields near nanostructures.