Electric field switching of chiral phonons

Electric field switching of chiral phonons | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Electric field switching of chiral phonons Michael Grimes, Hiroki Ueda, Clifford Allington, Carl Romao, Kurt Kummer, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9074559/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Lattice vibrations carrying angular momentum, known as chiral phonons, offer a route to couple lattice, electronic, and magnetic degrees of freedom, but their deterministic control has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate reversible electric-field switching of phonon angular momentum in the technologically-relevant ferroelectric BaTiO3. Using circularly dichroic resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, we directly resolve phonon chirality via angular momentum transfer between circularly polarised X-rays and the lattice. We observe a momentum dependent dichroic response that switches with ferroelectric polarisation, establishing a robust and non-volatile gyroelectric effect. The measured dichroism is in quantitative agreement with first-principles calculations. These results establish phonon angular momentum as an electrically controllable degree of freedom and provide a pathway toward phonon-based information and energy technologies. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Ferroelectrics and multiferroics Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices Phonon angular momentum chiral phononics ionic motion symmetry-breaking Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files supplementalbto.pdf Supplementary Materials: Electric field switching of chiral phonons q2o2motionhighe.gif Atomic motion at reciprocal point q2, phonon energy = 100 meV q4o2motionhighe.gif Atomic motion at reciprocal point q4, phonon energy = 100 meV q2o2motion.gif Atomic motion at reciprocal point q2, phonon energy = 38 meV q4o2motion.gif Atomic motion at reciprocal point q4, phonon energy = 38 meV Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9074559","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":631196787,"identity":"4e319958-1d47-438a-9b04-4942c034bb4d","order_by":0,"name":"Michael 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symmetry-breaking","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9074559/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9074559/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Lattice vibrations carrying angular momentum, known as chiral phonons, offer\r\na route to couple lattice, electronic, and magnetic degrees of freedom, but\r\ntheir deterministic control has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate reversible\r\nelectric-field switching of phonon angular momentum in the technologically-relevant\r\nferroelectric BaTiO3. Using circularly dichroic resonant inelastic X-ray\r\nscattering, we directly resolve phonon chirality via angular momentum transfer\r\nbetween circularly polarised X-rays and the lattice. We observe a momentum dependent\r\ndichroic response that switches with ferroelectric polarisation, establishing\r\na robust and non-volatile gyroelectric effect. The measured dichroism is in\r\nquantitative agreement with first-principles calculations. These results establish\r\nphonon angular momentum as an electrically controllable degree of freedom and\r\nprovide a pathway toward phonon-based information and energy technologies.","manuscriptTitle":"Electric field switching of chiral phonons","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-29 04:12:15","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9074559/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-materials","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nmat","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Materials](http://www.nature.com/nmat/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Materials","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Research","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2da7420d-2ef3-46c5-962c-0d9dee80dc07","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 29th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"This content is not available.","date":"2026-05-05T07:18:54+00:00","index":2,"fulltext":"This content is not available."}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":67181936,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics"},{"id":67181937,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Ferroelectrics and multiferroics"},{"id":67181938,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for devices/Electronic devices"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-29T04:12:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-29 04:12:15","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9074559","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9074559","identity":"rs-9074559","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}