Symmetry-guided catalogue of chiral phonon materials

Nature Physics (2026)Cite this article Chiral phonons—circularly polarized lattice vibrations with angular momentum—have become a key frontier in quantum materials. They offer ways to control heat and information through their coupling to electronic spin and orbital and valley degrees of freedom. We present a symmetry-based framework that classifies phonon chirality across all crystallographic space groups. Our approach, built on the symmetry representations of phonon angular momentum in reciprocal space, identifies three phononic material classes, namely, crystals with no chirality, chiral crystals with conventional s-wave helicity, and a group of achiral crystals hosting exotic higher-order helicities such as d, g and i waves. Through high-throughput computation, we shortlist the most promising material candidates for experimental investigation. These results are compiled into the open-access Chiral Phonon Materials Database, which enables screening for materials with the desired chiral phonon properties. Our work establishes both theoretical framework and material platform required to exploit the properties of chiral phonons for next-generation thermal management and quantum 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 checkoutSource data are provided with this paper. All other data are publicly available in the CPMDB at https://materialsfingerprint.com.The code used in this study is available via Code Ocean at https://doi.org/10.24433/CO.0627690.v1.Kelvin, W. T. B.

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B 113, 024302 (2026).Article Google Scholar Download referencesWe thank T. Zhang, L. Zhang, Q. Niu and X. Dai for helpful discussion. This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant numbers 2025YFA1411500 to Y.X., Y.L. and M.S. and 2022YFA1402200 to H.Y.), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers LR26A040003 to Y.X., LR24A040001 to Y.T. and LJXSZ26A040002 to T.D.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 12550401 to Y.X., 12374163 to Y.X., W2511006 to H.Y., 12494592 to H.Y., 12350710785 to M.S., 12561160109 to M.S., 62574179 to T.D. and 12274365 to Y.T.), the New Cornerstone Science Foundation to H.Y. and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant numbers 226-2024-00200 to Y.X. and 226-2024-00068 to M.S.). Part of the calculations was performed on Quantum Many-Body HPC platform at School of Physics, Zhejiang University.These authors contributed equally: Yue Yang, Zhenyu Xiao, Yu Mao.New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Center for Correlated Matter and School of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaYue Yang, Yu Mao, Huiqiu Yuan, Ming Shi & Yuanfeng XuInternational Center for Quantum Material, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaZhenyu Xiao & Zhi-Da SongPrinceton Quantum Initiative, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USAZhenyu XiaoBeijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaZhanghuan Li & Yuan LiCollege of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaZhenyang WangState Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaTianqi DengKey Laboratory of Power Semiconductor Materials and Devices of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Advanced Semiconductors, ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaTianqi DengSchool of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaYanhao TangZhejiang Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Quantum Chips and Quantum Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaYanhao TangInstitute of Fundamental and Transdisciplinary Research, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaHuiqiu YuanInstitute for Advanced Study in Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaHuiqiu YuanState Key Laboratory of Silicon and Advanced Semiconductor Materials, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, ChinaHuiqiu YuanSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarY.X. conceived and supervised the project. Y.Y., Z.X., Z.L. and Y.X. developed the classification method. Y.Y. and Y.M. performed the high-throughput calculations under the supervision of Y.X. Z.W. built the database using input data provided by Y.Y. and Y.M. T.D., Y.T., Z.S., Y.L., H.Y., M.S., and Y.X. analysed and discussed the results. Y.X., Y.Y., Z.X. and Y.M. drafted the manuscript and Supplementary Information, and all authors contributed to revising the final version.Correspondence to Yuanfeng Xu.The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Physics thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary Information, sections A–F, Supplementary Figs. 1–183 and Supplementary Tables 1–45.Source data for phonon band structures and isoenergy surfaces with helicity projections for four prototypical materials.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 permissionsYang, Y., Xiao, Z., Mao, Y. et al. Symmetry-guided catalogue of chiral phonon materials. Nat. Phys. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03260-0Download citationReceived: 23 June 2025Accepted: 18 March 2026Published: 17 April 2026Version of record: 17 April 2026DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03260-0Anyone 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