  Plasmonic fields are usually considered non-chiral because of the transverse
magnetic polarization of surface plasmon modes. We however show here that an
optical lattice created from the intersection of two coherent surface plasmons
propagating on a smooth metal film can generate optical chirality in the
interfering near field. We reveal in particular the emergence of plasmonic
potentials relevant to the generation of near-field chiral forces. This draws
promising perspectives for performing enantiomeric separation schemes within
the near field.
