Researchers have discovered a new class of materials, chiral topological semi-metals, that possess properties that could revolutionize the field of orbitronics – a potential energy-efficient alternative to traditional electronics. This breakthrough could pave the way for a future with more sustainable technology.
Harnessing Orbital Angular Momentum
One interesting emerging field of research is that of Orbitronics, the use of atomic and molecular characteristics that could be affected by their orbital angular momentum (OAM) to encode information. Unlike traditional electronics that rely on the charge of the electron.
OAM is a robust technique for memory applications, as it can potentially allow for generating large magnetization with modestly scaled charge currents, leading to energy-efficient devices. The critical issue then has been that have just found the proper substances to make OAM flows powerful, which is necessary for any kind of progress in orbitronics.
The Discovery of OAM Monopoles
And ROMAX is capable of driving groundbreaking research within the field thanks to a significant advance made by researchers from PSI – the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, and Max Planck Institutes in Germany. In chiral topological semi-metals, a new type of material started at PSI in 2019, they have shown that OAM textures with characteristic singularities can indeed exist and found evidence for the bizarre ‘OAM monopoles’.
Finally, OAM monopoles of orbitronic are especially interesting since they have uniformity and isotropy in the stream of OAM (i.e. they can be created from all directions). Such a property may facilitate applying to create OAM stable and efficient currents in the absence of additional necessary conditions.
Even though OAM monopoles have only been a theoretical concept before this most recent study, researchers were puzzled by their attempts to construct QGs for experimental purposes. However, a team from PSI and the Max Planck Institutes have taken one footstep further along this trail of theory confirming the existence these unobserved OAM monopoles.
Conclusion
A century later, the few types of OAM monopoles were discovered in chiral topological semi-metals is a milestone in Orbitronics. This means that researchers can now model these peculiar OAM textures with precision and experimentally explore the OAM properties in a range of materials for their future applications in the next generation of energy-efficient technologies. The implication of this discovery is the further possibility of a green future not only in electronics but also in other applications.
