Chiral Phonons

Dominik M. Juraschek; R. Matthias Geilhufe; Hanyu Zhu; Martina Basini; Peter Baum; Andrey Baydin; Swati Chaudhary; Michael  Fechner; Benedetta Flebus; Gael Grissonnanche; Andrei I. Kirilyuk; Mikhail Lemeshko; Sebastian F. Maehrlein; Maxime  Mignolet; Shuichi Murakami; Qian Niu; Ulrich Nowak; Carl P. Romao; Habib Rostami; Takuya Satoh; Nicola A.  Spaldin; Hiroki Ueda; Lifa Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41567-025-03001-9

Chiral Phonons

Dominik M. Juraschek
, R. Matthias Geilhufe
, Hanyu Zhu
, Martina Basini
, Peter Baum
, Andrey Baydin
, Swati Chaudhary
, Michael Fechner
, Benedetta Flebus
, Gael Grissonnanche
, Andrei I. Kirilyuk
, Mikhail Lemeshko
, Sebastian F. Maehrlein
, Maxime Mignolet
, Shuichi Murakami
, Qian Niu
, Ulrich Nowak
, Carl P. Romao
, Habib Rostami
, Takuya Satoh

Nicola A. Spaldin, Hiroki Ueda, Lifa Zhang

Tel Aviv University
Chalmers University of Technology
Rice University
ETH Zürich
University of Konstanz
University of Tokyo
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Boston College
Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Radboud University Nijmegen
Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society
Technische Universität Dresden
Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, Liège
University of Liege
European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility, Liège
Institute of Science Tokyo
University of Science and Technology of China
Institute of Science Tokyo
Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki
Paul Scherrer Institute
Nanjing Normal University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

31 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

A rapidly increasing body of work reporting phenomena associated with lattice vibrations carrying angular momentum has led to the emergence of the field of chiral phonons. Some of these properties, such as the phonon magnetic moment, also occur in achiral phonons that are circularly or elliptically polarized, while the presence of chirality has additional implications for the types of interaction allowed between the phonons and light, electrons and other quasiparticles. In this Perspective we introduce a framework for classifying phonons with angular momentum, and provide illustrations of the different types using examples from the recent literature. Specifically, we suggest the term ‘axial phonon’ to encompass all phonons that carry angular momentum, real or pseudo, and reserve the term ‘chiral phonon’ for those phonons that break improper rotational symmetry. We hope that this scheme provides clarification on the matter of phonon chirality and will serve as a guide for future research.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1532-1540
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Physics
Volume	21
Issue number	10
Early online date	22 Sept 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03001-9
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2025

Funding

We thank A. V. Balatsky, E. Bousquet, A. Disa, S. Kamba, L. Klebl, R. Merlin, A. Srivastava, A. Stroppa, M. Udina, P. Wong and D. Xiao for valuable discussions. M.B. acknowledges support from SNSF Ambizione project number PZ00P2_216089. P.B. and U.N. acknowledge funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number 541503763). B.F. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under grant number NSF DMR-2144086. G.G. acknowledges support from STeP2 number ANR-22-EXES-0013, QuantExt number ANR-23-CE30-0001-01, Audace CEA number ANR-24-RRII-0004 and the École Polytechnique foundation. A.I.K. acknowledges the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO-I) for their financial contribution, including the support of the HFML-FELIX Laboratory. D.M.J. acknowledges support from Tel Aviv University and ERC Starting Grant CHIRALPHONONICS grant number 101166037. S.F.M. acknowledges funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number 469405347). C.P.R. and N.A.S. were supported by ETH Zurich and by the European Union and Horizon 2020, grant agreement numbers 810451 and 101030352. R.M.G. acknowledges support from the Swedish Research Council (VR starting grant number 2022-03350), the Olle Engkvist Foundation (grant number 229-0443), the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund (Horisont), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant number 2023.0087) and Chalmers University of Technology via the Department of Physics and the Areas of Advance Nano and Materials Science. Q.N. is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 12234017) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant number 2023YFA1406300). H.R. acknowledges funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant number UKRI122) and Royal Society (grant number IES\R2\242309). T.S. acknowledges support from MEXT X-NICS (grant number JPJ011438), NINS OML Project (grant number OML012301) and JST CREST (grant number JPMJCR24R5). H.Z. acknowledges support from the Welch Foundation (grant number C-2128) and the National Science Foundation (grant number DMR-2240106). We acknowledge support from the Centre Européen de Calcul Atomique et Moléculaire (CECAM) in connection to organizing the workshop "Chiral Phonons in Quantum Materials", held in 2023, where the idea for this paper emerged.

Funders	Funder number
European Research Council	469405347, 101166037
National Natural Science Foundation of China	12234017
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)	541503763
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung	PZ00P2_216089
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	UKRI122
Horizon 2020	810451, 101030352
Welch Foundation	DMR-2240106, C-2128
Olle Engkvist Foundation	229-0443
National Science Foundation	NSF DMR-2144086, ANR-23-CE30-0001-01, ANR-22-EXES-0013
National Institutes of Natural Sciences	OML012301
Vetenskapsrådet	2022-03350
Royal Society	IES\R2\242309
Japan Science and Technology Agency	JPMJCR24R5
National Institute of Clinical Studies	JPJ011438
Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse	2023.0087
Audace CEA	ANR-24-RRII-0004
National Key Research and Development Program of China	2023YFA1406300

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Cite this

Juraschek, D. M., Geilhufe, R. M., Zhu, H., Basini, M., Baum, P., Baydin, A., Chaudhary, S., Fechner, M., Flebus, B., Grissonnanche, G., Kirilyuk, A. I., Lemeshko, M., Maehrlein, S. F., Mignolet, M., Murakami, S., Niu, Q., Nowak, U., Romao, C. P., Rostami, H., ... Zhang, L. (2025). Chiral Phonons. Nature Physics, 21(10), 1532-1540. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03001-9

Juraschek, DM, Geilhufe, RM, Zhu, H, Basini, M, Baum, P, Baydin, A, Chaudhary, S, Fechner, M, Flebus, B, Grissonnanche, G, Kirilyuk, AI, Lemeshko, M, Maehrlein, SF, Mignolet, M, Murakami, S, Niu, Q, Nowak, U, Romao, CP, Rostami, H, Satoh, T, Spaldin, NA, Ueda, H & Zhang, L 2025, 'Chiral Phonons', Nature Physics, vol. 21, no. 10, pp. 1532-1540. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03001-9

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abstract = "A rapidly increasing body of work reporting phenomena associated with lattice vibrations carrying angular momentum has led to the emergence of the field of chiral phonons. Some of these properties, such as the phonon magnetic moment, also occur in achiral phonons that are circularly or elliptically polarized, while the presence of chirality has additional implications for the types of interaction allowed between the phonons and light, electrons and other quasiparticles. In this Perspective we introduce a framework for classifying phonons with angular momentum, and provide illustrations of the different types using examples from the recent literature. Specifically, we suggest the term {\textquoteleft}axial phonon{\textquoteright} to encompass all phonons that carry angular momentum, real or pseudo, and reserve the term {\textquoteleft}chiral phonon{\textquoteright} for those phonons that break improper rotational symmetry. We hope that this scheme provides clarification on the matter of phonon chirality and will serve as a guide for future research. ",

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AU - Baydin, Andrey

AU - Chaudhary, Swati

AU - Fechner, Michael

AU - Flebus, Benedetta

AU - Grissonnanche, Gael

AU - Kirilyuk, Andrei I.

AU - Lemeshko, Mikhail

AU - Maehrlein, Sebastian F.

AU - Mignolet, Maxime

AU - Murakami, Shuichi

AU - Niu, Qian

AU - Nowak, Ulrich

AU - Romao, Carl P.

AU - Rostami, Habib

AU - Satoh, Takuya

AU - Spaldin, Nicola A.

AU - Ueda, Hiroki

AU - Zhang, Lifa

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Chiral Phonons

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