To keep up with today’s computing needs, researchers mine the quantum realm to find better ways to handle massive data demands. A new field known as “orbitronics” is the newest of these efforts. Orbitronics uses the path of an electron around a nucleus, a property known as orbital angular momentum, to store and process more information, much more efficiently. Typically, controlling an electron’s orbit requires using magnetic materials, like iron, that are heavy, expensive and burdensome for practical orbitronics devices.
In a new study, researchers developed the most streamlined system yet for generating orbital angular momentum in electrons. Their secret—a discovery in one of the hottest research topics in modern physics, a phenomenon known as chiral phonons.
For the first time ever, the authors showed that chiral phonons can transfer orbital angular momentum to electrons directly to electrons in a non-magnetic material.
“We don’t need a magnet. We don’t need a battery. We don’t need to use voltage. We just need a material with chiral phonons,” said Valy Vardeny, distinguished professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Utah and co-author of the study. “Before, it was unimaginable. Now, we’ve invented a new field, so to speak.”
The paper was published on Jan. 21, 2026, in the journal Nature Physics.
The race to crack chiral phonons
The study’s innovation was using the natural symmetry and vibrations of atoms to control the orbital momentum of electrons. Atoms in a solid are tightly packed together in lattice-like structures, whose shape depends on the material. In some materials, like metals, the atoms are arranged in a cube pattern, stacking together symmetrically so that their mirror image superimposes perfectly.
In chiral materials, such as quartz, the atoms are arranged in a helical pattern, like the threads of a screw. The atoms stack together with a built-in twist with either a “left-” or “right-” handedness that can’t superimpose onto each other, a symmetry called chirality. Human hands are a classic example of chiral symmetry—hold them out with the palms facing up, then put one on top of the other. That’s chiral!
Now, onto chiral phonons. Individual atoms vibrate in place while staying in a fixed position. In symmetrical materials like metals, the atoms wiggle side-to-side. In chiral materials, the twisted lattice structure forces the atoms to naturally wobble in a screw-like pattern with right- or left-handedness.
Phonons are the collective vibrations that travel through a solid, like a ripple moving through its atoms. Chiral materials have chiral phonons. Imagine you’re in the pit at a rock concert when the ballad hits. Someone starts swaying, hands in the air, forcing their neighbor to sway, and so on until the wave pattern ripples through the crowd.
The fact that the atoms vibrate in a circular, chiral path means that the atoms themselves naturally have an angular momentum. The study is the first to show that the chiral phonons’ angular momentum is transferred directly to the electrons’ orbital angular momentum.