Microscopic foundation for orbitronics: orbital exchange interactions, orbital-dependent transport, and orbital switching
Abstract
Recent experiments highlighted the essential role of the orbital degrees of freedom underlying current-induced magnetic dynamics. However, a microscopic picture of how orbital angular momenta are transferred between itinerant and localized electrons, and the way it feeds back into transport, remains elusive. Here we develop a theoretical framework for the orbital exchange interactions by generalizing the Anderson-Kondo model to incorporate the orbitals of conduction bands. Illustrating with the p-orbitals, we determine the way electrons acquire orbital polarization and its influence on the transport properties, uncovering the orbital counterparts of phenomena analogous to spin filtering and tunnel magnetoresistance. Reciprocally, we demonstrate that orbital-polarized currents can exert torques on localized magnetic moments without having to convert into spin currents, which enables electrical switching of magnetization even when spin polarization becomes inactive. These striking discoveries lay a microscopic foundation for orbitronics and reveal critical mechanisms for orbital manipulations of magnetic order.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhang2026microscopic,
title = {{Microscopic foundation for orbitronics: orbital exchange interactions, orbital-dependent transport, and orbital switching}},
author = {Hantao Zhang and Ran Cheng},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.15374},
eprint = {2610.15374},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.15374},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Microscopic foundation for orbitronics: orbital exchange interactions, orbital-dependent transport, and orbital switching
AU - Hantao Zhang
AU - Ran Cheng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/11
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.15374
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.15374
AB - Recent experiments highlighted the essential role of the orbital degrees of freedom underlying current-induced magnetic dynamics. However, a microscopic picture of how orbital angular momenta are transferred between itinerant and localized electrons, and the way it feeds back into transport, remains elusive. Here we develop a theoretical framework for the orbital exchange interactions by generalizing the Anderson-Kondo model to incorporate the orbitals of conduction bands. Illustrating with the p-orbitals, we determine the way electrons acquire orbital polarization and its influence on the transport properties, uncovering the orbital counterparts of phenomena analogous to spin filtering and tunnel magnetoresistance. Reciprocally, we demonstrate that orbital-polarized currents can exert torques on localized magnetic moments without having to convert into spin currents, which enables electrical switching of magnetization even when spin polarization becomes inactive. These striking discoveries lay a microscopic foundation for orbitronics and reveal critical mechanisms for orbital manipulations of magnetic order.
ER -