

The twisted nanotubes that tell a story
In collaboration with scientists in Germany, EPFL researchers have demonstrated that the spiral geometry of tiny, twisted magnetic tubes can be leveraged to transmit data based on quasiparticles called magnons, rather than electrons.
Dec 9, 20253 min read






















![Single crystals of potassium europium nitrate, K₃[Eu₂(NO₃)₉], grown from water by slow evaporation (a). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals left- and right-handed chiral crystal structures (c, d). Under ultraviolet light, the crystals emit bright red circularly polarized luminescence (b), demonstrating that a purely inorganic bulk crystal can exhibit chirality-induced optical activity. This study opens new possibilities for the design of robust optical materials.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1f0a1d_75625fbf5ee0438d82a4fb0fbfed2869~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_332,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/1f0a1d_75625fbf5ee0438d82a4fb0fbfed2869~mv2.webp)
![Single crystals of potassium europium nitrate, K₃[Eu₂(NO₃)₉], grown from water by slow evaporation (a). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals left- and right-handed chiral crystal structures (c, d). Under ultraviolet light, the crystals emit bright red circularly polarized luminescence (b), demonstrating that a purely inorganic bulk crystal can exhibit chirality-induced optical activity. This study opens new possibilities for the design of robust optical materials.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1f0a1d_75625fbf5ee0438d82a4fb0fbfed2869~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_162,h_122,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_avif,quality_auto/1f0a1d_75625fbf5ee0438d82a4fb0fbfed2869~mv2.webp)



