Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 25: Focus Session: Chiral phonons and crystals coupled to magnetic order I

MA 25.9: Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 12:30–12:45, HSZ/0002

Phonon-induced chirality — •Dominik Juraschek — Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Controlling and utilizing solid-state chirality is a central challenge in condensed matter physics, because it does not couple to applied magnetic or electric fields, in contrast to magnetism and ferroelectricity. In this talk I show that geometric chiral phonons, lattice vibrations whose instantaneous atomic displacements break inversion and mirror symmetries, can transiently drive an achiral crystal into a chiral state. Using group-theoretical analysis, we identified selection rules for phonon-induced geometric chirality across all 32 point groups and demonstrate that ultrashort mid-infrared and terahertz pulses can excite pairs of IR-active phonons whose nonlinear coupling rectifies a geometric chiral phonon. I further demonstrate that chiral order exhibits fundamental excitations which we term ``chiralons,'' similar to the recently discovered ferrons in ferroelectric order. Our results highlight an emerging functionality of chiral phononics beyond phonon angular momentum.

Keywords: chiral phonons; nonlinear phononics; chirality; ultrafast; terahertz