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Cyanine dyes are known to form H - and J -aggregates in aqueous solutions. Here we show that the cyanine dye, S0271, assembles in water into vortex induced chiral J -aggregates. The chirality of the J -aggregates depends on the directionality of the vortex. This study utilised both conventional benchtop CD spectropolarimeters and Mueller matrix polarimetry. It was found that J -aggregates have real chirality alongside linear dichroism and linear and circular birefringence. We identify the factors that are key to the formation of metastable chiral J -aggregates and propose a mechanism for their assembly.

The first example of uniformly chiral thin films of silicon phthalocyanines (SiPcs) are reported. The local domains of the films are mapped using circular dichroism (CD) imaging (CD i ) technique available at the Diamond B23 beamline. The CD i allowed us to increase the spatial resolution up to 525× when compared with benchtop spectrometers. The results indicate formation on-surface of chiral and stable supramolecular assemblies with homogenous distribution. Chemical functionalization and solvent choice for deposition allow controllable chiroptical properties to be obtained. The method and technique reported in this work could be applied to prepare and characterize a wide variety of chiral thin films.