Physicists open door to future, hyper-efficient ‘orbitronic’ devices
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 4-Apr-2026 02:15 ET (4-Apr-2026 06:15 GMT/UTC)
Orbitronics devices use an electron’s orbital angular momentum to store and process more information, much more efficiently. Typically, generating orbital currents requires magnetic metals that are heavy and expensive. For the first time ever, researchers prove that atomic vibrations can transfer orbital angular momentum directly to electrons in a non-magnetic material, quartz. The method will work on other chiral materials, such as tellurium, selenium and hybrid organic/inorganic perovskites, and is the most streamlined system yet for orbitronics research.
LEDs no wider than a human hair could soon take on work traditionally handled by lasers, from moving data inside server racks to powering next-generation displays. New research co-authored by UC Santa Barbara doctoral student Roark Chao points to a practical path forward.
AI users and developers can now measure the amount of electricity various AI models consume to complete tasks with open-source software and an online leaderboard developed at the University of Michigan.