Challenges and opportunities in orbitronics

Nature Physics (2025)Cite this article The ability to control the spin degrees of freedom of electrons has enabled the development of spintronic devices that use spin, rather than just electric charge, to store and process information. The concepts of spintronics are now applied in technologies such as magnetic sensors and non-volatile memory devices. In addition to spin, electrons can carry orbital angular momentum. However, research into the use of orbital angular momentum is still in its early stages. Recent discoveries of phenomena mediated by orbital angular momentum have led to a new branch of physics called orbitronics. Here we explore how orbitronics may represent the next phase in the evolution of spintronics by reviewing the current theoretical understanding, challenges and experimental results related to orbital effects. We also outline key open questions and discusses potential applications, with a focus on non-volatile memory technologies.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any timeSubscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articleUSD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutHirohata, A. et al. Review on spintronics: principles and device applications. J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 509, 166711 (2020).Article Google Scholar Brataas, A., Kent, A. D. & Ohno, H. Current-induced torques in magnetic materials. Nat. Mater. 11, 372–381 (2012).Article ADS Google Scholar Manchon, A. et al. Current-induced spin-orbit torques in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems. Rev. Mod. Phys. 91, 035004 (2019).Shao, Q. et al. Roadmap of spin–orbit torques. IEEE Trans. Magnet. 57, 1–39 (2021).Article Google Scholar Jungwirth, T., Marti, X., Wadley, P. & Wunderlich, J. Antiferromagnetic spintronics. Nat. Nanotechnol. 11, 231–241 (2016).Article ADS Google Scholar Natsui, M. et al. Dual-port SOT-MRAM achieving 90-MHz read and 60-MHz write operations under field-assistance-free condition. IEEE J.

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K.-J.L. acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (RS-2022-NR068225, RS-2024-00410027, RS-2024-00436660 and RS-2025-00516229) and Samsung Electronics (IO201019-07699-01). M.K. acknowledges TopDyn, the German Research Foundation (TRR 173-268565370 Spin+X: A01, A11, B02, TRR 288-422213477 Elasto-Q-Mat: A12 and project 358671374), the Horizon Europe Framework (grant number 101070290 (NIMFEIA), grant number 101070287 (Swan-on-Chip), grant number 101226840 (ORBIS) and grant number 101129641 (OBELIX)), the European Research Council (grant number 856538 (3D MAGiC)), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under award 2024−CRG12−6480 and the Research Council of Norway through its Centers of Excellence funding scheme under project number 262633 ‘QuSpin’.Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, JapanShunsuke FukamiCenter for Science and Innovation in Spintronics, Tohoku University, Sendai, JapanShunsuke Fukami & Mathias KläuiDepartment of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of KoreaKyung-Jin LeeInstitut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, GermanyMathias KläuiCentre for Quantum Spintronics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU, Trondheim, NorwayMathias KläuiSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarS.F., K.-J.L. and M.K. contributed equally to writing the manuscript.Correspondence to Shunsuke Fukami, Kyung-Jin Lee or Mathias Kläui.The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Physics thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.Reprints and permissionsFukami, S., Lee, KJ. & Kläui, M. Challenges and opportunities in orbitronics. Nat. Phys. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03143-wDownload citationReceived: 24 November 2024Accepted: 29 October 2025Published: 31 December 2025Version of record: 31 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03143-wAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative