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Helices of increased electron density can spontaneously form in materialscontaining multiple, interacting density waves. Although a macroscopic orderparameter theory describing this behaviour has been proposed and experimentallytested, a detailed microscopic understanding of spiral electronic order in anyparticular material is still lacking. Here, we present the elemental chalcogensSelenium and Tellurium as model materials for the development of chiral chargeand orbital order. We formulate minimal models capturing the formation ofspiral structures both in terms of a macroscopic Landau theory and amicroscopic Hamiltonian. Both reproduce the known chiral crystal structure andare consistent with its observed thermal evolution and behaviour under appliedpressure. The combination of microscopic and macroscopic frameworks allows usto distil the essential ingredients in the emergence of helical charge order,and may serve as a guide to understanding spontaneous chirality both in otherspecific materials and throughout materials classes.

Elemental chalcogens as a minimal model for chiral charge and orbital order