Chirality-driven topological orbital texture in the chiral multifold semimetal PdGa

As a unique crystalline symmetry, chirality displays its significance in topological materials. It nurtures many exotic electronic properties, such as multifold chiral fermions which manifest nontrivial topological charge and spin textures. However, among chiral topological semimetals (TSMs), the essential understanding of the electronic orbital information, i.e. orbital angular momentum (OAM), is rather limited. In this work, a new perspective to comprehend the correlation between OAM and enantiomer recognition in chiral TSMs is presented. We reveal that the OAM of the bulk electronic structure is finite and locked to the electronic momentum, resulting in sign reversal for the opposite enantiomers. Consequently, OAM can be regarded as an intrinsic decisive for enantiomer recognition. In addition, chiral multifold fermions with opposite chirality act as sources and sinks of OAM, which is analogous to the Berry curvature. These findings open a different route for enantiomer recognition by physical properties rather than chemical ones, which could allow for unlocking the origins of enantioselective processes.