Drawing inspiration from a remarkable chiral force found in nature, we show
that a static electric field combined with an optical lin⊥lin
polarization standing wave can exert a chiral optical force on a small chiral
molecule that is several orders of magnitude stronger than other chiral optical
forces proposed to date, being based on leading electric-dipole interactions
rather than relying on weak magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole
interactions. Our chiral optical force applies to most small chiral molecules,
including isotopically chiral molecules, and does not require a specific
energy-level structure. Potential applications range from chiral molecular
matter-wave interferometry for precision metrology and tests of fundamental
physics to the resolution of enantiomers for use in chemistry and biology