Mechanical strain creates chirality Researchers have discovered that mechanical strain also induces chirality in non-chiral crystals, opening a new direction to control this property on demand and potentially imprint chiral electronic properties. In this sense, the ability to control chirality on demand, turning a right-handed structure into a left-handed one, is very desirable. The MPSD researchers have now shown that mechanical strain provides precisely such a handle. Mechanical strain can deform a solid at the atomic level, forming a chiral structure. (Image: Jörg Harms, Zhiyang Zeng (MPSD))To demonstrate this effect, the team monitored the appearance of the crystal’s optical activity – a characteristic signature of chirality – while applying controlled mechanical strain.