Chirality-Induced Orbital Selectivity through Linear-Orbital Coupling

Area of Science:

• Condensed matter physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Materials science

Background:

• Chirality plays a crucial role in molecular and material properties.
• Understanding electron transport through chiral environments is key for novel electronic devices.
• Orbital angular momentum (OAM) influences electron behavior in confined systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To model electron transmission through a 3D chiral electrostatic potential.
• To investigate the emergence of chirality-induced orbital selectivity.
• To explore the relationship between linear momentum, OAM, and electron transmittance.

Main Methods:

• Development of a three-dimensional continuum model for electron transmission.
• Analysis of electron transmittance dependence on incident orbital angular momentum (OAM).
• Inclusion of helical potential spatial dependence to study linear-orbital coupling.

Main Results:

• Electron transmittance shows strong dependence on incident OAM.
• Selectivity reverses with the inversion of the potential's handedness.
• Linear-orbital coupling, mediated by helical potentials, is identified as the origin of selectivity.
• Orbital selectivity is robust to disorder and increases with chiral region length.
• Spin selectivity can be induced via spin-OAM correlations in electrodes.

Conclusions:

• Orbital dynamics are a significant factor in electron transport through chiral systems.
• The presented model provides insights into chirality-induced effects in electron transport.
• The findings suggest potential applications in chiral electronic devices and spintronics.