Enhanced chirality-induced spin polarization in twisted transition metal dichalcogenides

Chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) causes electrons in chiral molecules to acquire spin polarization, yet its mechanism remains unclear. This work shows that atomically thin chiral van der Waals crystals, with spin-orbit coupling (SOC), exhibit strong CISS even in bilayers. Calculations for twisted homobilayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) reveal spin polarization exceeding 20% in MoTe2. These results establish twisted quantum materials as a tunable platform for CISS in condensed matter physics and chiral chemistry. This manuscript reports a description of these efforts, as illustrated in an oral contribution presented at the SIF Congress 2024 by G. Menichetti.