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Untangling the spin-favouritism of chiral molecules

Posted in materials

A new theoretical model explains why chiral molecules favour transporting electrons in one spin state over the other, providing a quantitative fit to experiments.1

Many current-carrying materials show no bias towards the spin state of the electrons they transport, allowing spin-up and spin-down species to flow in equal numbers. But chiral molecules can be more discriminating, offering easier passage to one spin orientation than to its counterpart.