New research uncovers chiral topological phases in metals without structural order
Fermions are among the most important particles in physics and include both everyday electrons and more exotic variants. Chiral fermions, like gloves, come in left- and right-handed versions and were proposed over a century ago. While high-energy neutrinos—the leading candidates for massless chiral fermions—proved to have mass, nearly (semi-) metallic solid-state crystals were discovered 15 years…
A recent study has revealed the presence of chiral topological phases in metals that lack structural order. Chiral fermions, which come in left- and right-handed versions, were initially thought to have mass but have since been discovered in semi-metallic solid-state crystals. These semimetals, or topological semimetals (TSMs), possess electronic properties protected by the geometry of their electron wavefunctions, making them highly resistant to disruption.
Benjamin Wieder, a postdoctoral researcher, discovered that lattice structural chirality can be utilized to generate ideal TSM phases. This finding has potential applications in enantioselective photoresponse and topologically enhanced chemical catalysis. Surprisingly, recent experiments have demonstrated that many advantageous electronic properties of TSM materials remain intact in amorphous structural phases, despite prior predictions that moderate disorder would destroy them.
Through symmetry group theory methods, researchers have found that local chirality order in amorphous materials can maintain these properties. This discovery challenges the notion that disorder inevitably destroys metallic topological states and opens new avenues for studying topological phases in amorphous materials.
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