illustration (IMAGE) Rice University Caption Chiral phonons excited by the circularly polarized terahertz light pulses generate ultrafast magnetization in cerium fluoride. Fluorine ions (red, fuchsia) are set into motion by circularly polarized terahertz light pulses (yellow spiral), where red denotes the ions with the largest motion in the chiral phonon mode. The cerium ion is represented in teal. The compass needle represents the magnetization induced by the rotating atoms. Credit (Image courtesy of Mario Norton and Jiaming Luo/Rice University) Usage Restrictions Must credit Mario Norton and Jiaming Luo/Rice University) License Original content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.