Phonon Pseudoangular Momentum in α-MoO3

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2024 Mar 29;14(7):607. doi: 10.3390/nano14070607.

Abstract

In recent studies, it has been discovered that phonons can carry angular momentum, leading to a series of investigations into systems with three-fold rotation symmetry. However, for systems with two-fold screw rotational symmetry, such as α-MoO3, there has been no relevant discussion. In this paper, we investigated the pseudoangular momentum of phonons in crystals with two-fold screw rotational symmetry. Taking α-MoO3 as an example, we explain the selection rules in circularly polarized Raman experiments resulting from pseudoangular momentum conservation, providing important guidance for experiments. This study of pseudoangular momentum in α-MoO3 opens up a new degree of freedom for its potential applications, expanding into new application domains.

Keywords: helicity-selective Raman scattering; phonon; pseudoangular momentum; selection rule.