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How a Twist in Physics Could Change Technology Forever


 

Schematic representation of the experimental setup used to shape electrons into chiral coils of mass and charge. Credit: Dr. Yiqi Fang, University of Konstanz, edited


Physicists at the University of Konstanz have discovered a way to imprint a previously unseen geometrical form of chirality onto electrons using laser light, creating chiral coils of mass and charge.

This breakthrough in manipulating electron chirality has vast implications for quantum optics, particle physics, and electron microscopy, paving the way for new scientific explorations and technological innovations.

Understanding Chirality and Its Implications

Have you ever placed the palm of your right hand on the back of your left hand, in such a way that all fingers point in the same direction? If you have, then you probably know that your right thumb will not touch its left counterpart. Neither rotations nor translations nor their combinations can turn a left hand into a right hand and vice versa. This feature is called chirality.

Scientists at the University of Konstanz have now succeeded in imprinting such a three-dimensional chirality onto the wave function of a single electron. They used laser light to shape the electron’s matter wave into left-handed or right-handed coils of mass and charge. Such engineered elementary particles with chiral geometries other than their intrinsic spin have implications for fundamental physics but may also be useful for a range of applications, such as quantum optics, particle physics, or electron microscopy.

“We are opening up new potentials for scientific research that have not been considered before,” says Peter Baum, corresponding author of the study and head of the Light and Matter research group at the University of Konstanz.

Chirality of Single Particles and Composites

Chiral objects play a crucial role in nature and technology. In the realm of elementary particles, one of the most important chiral phenomena is spin, which is often compared to a self-rotation of a particle, but is in fact a purely quantum-mechanical property with no classical analog. An electron, for example, has a spin of one-half and therefore often exists in two potential states: a right-handed and a left-handed one. This fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics gives rise to many important real-world phenomena like almost all magnetic phenomena or the periodic table of the elements. Electron spin is also critical to the development of advanced technologies such as quantum computers or superconductors.


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