Chiral semiconductor nanostructures have emerged as a promising class of materials inspired by biological helices, such as cellulose, DNA, and protein secondary structures. These materials exhibit unique optical activity, enabling selective interaction with circularly polarized light (CPL), which is critical for applications in 3D displays, quantum communication, and advanced optoelectronic devices. Unlike conventional chiral materials synthesized through purely chemical or physical methods, bio-inspired chiral semiconductors leverage the hierarchical assembly and structural motifs found in nature to achieve enhanced performance and functionality.

The synthesis of bio-inspired chiral semiconductor nanostructures often involves biomimetic approaches that replicate the self-assembly processes observed in biological systems. One common method is the templated growth of semiconductor nanoparticles using chiral biomolecules as scaffolds. For instance, cellulose nanocrystals, which exhibit a natural helical arrangement, can serve as templates for the oriented attachment of quantum dots or perovskite nanocrystals. The resulting nanostructures inherit the chiral organization of the template, leading to pronounced circular dichroism (CD) signals in the visible and near-infrared regions. Another approach involves the use of amino acids or peptides as capping agents during colloidal synthesis, inducing chirality at the nanoscale through surface interactions. These methods yield nanostructures with dissymmetry factors (g-factors) ranging from 10^-3 to 10^-1, depending on the material system and synthesis conditions.

Optical activity in these materials arises from the coupling between the excitonic transitions of the semiconductor and the chiral superstructure. The CD spectra typically exhibit strong exciton-coupled Cotton effects, where the sign and magnitude of the signal correlate with the handedness and degree of twist in the nanostructure. For example, chiral perovskite nanocrystals templated by helical polymers have demonstrated g-factors of up to 0.1, rivaling those of organic chiral emitters. The emission of CPL is another hallmark of these materials, with polarization degrees often exceeding 20% under optimized conditions. This property is particularly valuable for applications requiring polarized light sources, such as autostereoscopic displays.

In comparison to non-bio-inspired chiral materials, bio-inspired semiconductors offer several advantages. Non-bio-inspired systems, such as those based on plasmonic nanoparticles or twisted metamaterials, rely on top-down fabrication or complex lithography, which can be costly and limited in scalability. In contrast, bio-inspired approaches leverage bottom-up assembly, enabling large-area fabrication with minimal energy input. Additionally, biological templates often impart enhanced stability and biocompatibility, which are critical for applications in wearable electronics or implantable sensors. However, non-bio-inspired materials may outperform their bio-inspired counterparts in terms of thermal or chemical stability in harsh environments.

Applications of bio-inspired chiral semiconductor nanostructures are vast and interdisciplinary. In 3D displays, these materials can serve as emissive layers for generating CPL directly, eliminating the need for external polarizers and improving energy efficiency. For quantum communication, chiral quantum dots have been explored as sources of entangled photon pairs, where the polarization state encodes quantum information. The inherent chirality of these materials also makes them suitable for spin-filtering devices, which are essential for spintronic applications. Furthermore, their biocompatibility opens doors for use in biosensing, where selective interaction with chiral biomolecules can enhance detection sensitivity.

The field is not without challenges. Achieving high dissymmetry factors across a broad spectral range remains a hurdle, as does scaling up production while maintaining uniformity. Future research may focus on hybrid approaches that combine bio-inspired assembly with synthetic chiral ligands to optimize performance. Advances in computational modeling could also accelerate the design of tailored chiral nanostructures for specific applications.

In summary, bio-inspired chiral semiconductor nanostructures represent a convergence of materials science and biology, offering unique optical properties and sustainable synthesis routes. Their ability to emit and detect CPL with high efficiency positions them as key enablers for next-generation optoelectronic technologies, bridging the gap between natural systems and engineered materials.