2025/02/17 by Takayuki Ishitobi, Ishitobi, Takayuki, Kazumasa Hattori +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.13977
openalex publication_date 2025/02/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We introduce the concept of purely electronic chirality (PEC), which arises in the absence of structural chirality. In condensed matter physics and chemistry, chirality has conventionally been understood as a mirror-image asymmetry in crystal or molecular structures. We demonstrate that certain electronic orders exhibit chirality-related properties without atomic displacement. Specifically, we investigate quadrupole orders to realize such purely electronic chirality with handedness that can be tuned by magnetic fields. As a representative example, we analyze a model featuring 120circ antiferro quadrupole orders on a distorted kagomé lattice, predicting various chirality-related responses in the nonmagnetic ordered phase of URhSn. Furthermore, as a phonon analog, chiral phonons can emerge in achiral crystals through coupling with the PEC order. Our results provide a distinct origin of chirality and a fundamental basis for exploring the interplay between electronic and structural chirality.