Pittsburgh Team Reveals Tunable Quantum System for Chirality Research

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, collaborating with the University of Oxford, have developed a programmable platform to explore electron behaviour in chiral systems, building on work initiated in 1999 and a technique pioneered in 2008. The team sculpted nanoscale spirals to create artificial chiral systems, observing quantum interference patterns and coherent oscillations in conductance. This allows for real-time modulation of chiral parameters, offering a controllable environment to investigate fundamental mechanisms governing chiral interactions previously difficult to verify in biological molecules such as DNA, amino acids, and proteins.

Research led by Jeremy Levy at the University of Pittsburgh has revealed quantum phenomena relating to chiral systems, building upon work initiated in 1999 by David Waldeck, who investigated electron scattering from chiral molecules. Initial findings demonstrated unexpectedly large and spin-dependent electron behaviour, subsequently establishing the field of chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS), which describes the differing spin orientations of electrons interacting with chiral molecules. The current study, a collaboration with Andrew Daley of the University of Oxford, combines chemistry, quantum physics, and biology to develop a programmable platform for exploring electron behaviour in chiral systems, including DNA, amino acids, and proteins.

Researchers sculpted electron pathways into nanoscale spiral geometries, creating artificial chiral systems with precisely controllable parameters, and representing an advance in Chiral Quantum Control. This approach builds on a technique the Levy group pioneered in 2008, utilising a conductive atomic force microscope tip to write electronic circuits. The team observed quantum interference patterns as electrons traverse these artificial spirals, manifesting as coherent oscillations in conductance and revealing previously inaccessible spin dynamics.

Unlike fixed biological structures, the artificial systems allow for real-time modulation of parameters such as pitch, amplitude, and handedness, effectively creating a “tunable knob” for exploring chirality. This ability to manipulate and observe electron behaviour in controlled chiral environments provides a novel platform for testing theories about chirality that have been difficult to verify in biological systems, and the research group anticipates further investigation into the fundamental mechanisms governing chiral interactions across scientific disciplines.