The orbital angular momentum of electrons has long been considered a minor physical phenomenon, suppressed in most crystals and largely overlooked. Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have now discovered that in certain materials it is not only preserved but can even be actively controlled. This is due to a property of the crystal structure called chirality, which also influences many other processes in nature.

The discovery has the potential to lead to a new class of electronic components capable of transmitting information with exceptional robustness and energy efficiency.

From electronics to spintronics, and now to orbitronics: In classical electronics, it is primarily the charge of the electron that counts. In modern approaches such as quantum computing and spintronics, the focus has shifted to the electron’s spin.