  We present a new technique for detecting chirality in the gas phase: Chiral
molecules are spatially aligned in three-dimensions by a moderately strong
elliptically-polarized laser field. The momentum distributions of the charged
fragments, produced by laser-induced Coulomb explosion, show distinct
three-dimensional orientation of the enantiomers, when the laser polarization
ellipse is rotated by a non-right angle with respect to the norm vector of the
detector plane. The resulting velocity-map-image asymmetry is directly
connected to the enantiomeric excess and to the absolute handedness of
molecules. We demonstrated our scheme computationally for camphor (C10H16O),
with its methyl-groups as marker fragments, using quantum-mechanical
simulations geared toward experimentally feasible conditions. Computed
sensitivity to enantiomeric excess is comparable to other modern chiroptical
approaches. The present method can be readily optimized for any chiral molecule
with an anisotropic polarizability tensor by adjusting the polarization state
and intensity profile of the laser field.
