Spintronic ferromagnetic/non-magnetic heterostructures are novel sources for the generation of THz radiation based on spin-to-charge conversion in the layers. The key technological and scientific challenge of THz spintronic emitters is to increase their intensity and frequency bandwidth. Our work reveals the factors to engineer spintronic Terahertz generation by introducing the scattering lifetime and the interface transmission for spin polarized, non-equilibrium electrons. We clarify the influence of the electron-defect scattering lifetime on the spectral shape and the interface transmission on the THz amplitude, and how this is linked to structural defects of bilayer emitters. The results of our study define a roadmap of the properties of emitted as well as detected THz-pulse shapes and spectra that is essential for future applications of metallic spintronic THz emitters.

We report the design, fabrication and experimental investigation of a spectrally wide-band terahertz spatial light modulator (THz-SLM) based on an array of 768 actuatable mirrors with each having a length of 220 μm and a width of 100 μm. A mirror length of several hundred micrometers is required to reduce diffraction from individual mirrors at terahertz frequencies and to increase the pixel-to-pixel modulation contrast of the THz-SLM. By means of spatially selective actuation, we used the mirror array as reconfigurable grating to spatially modulate terahertz waves in a frequency range from 0.97 THz to 2.28 THz. Over the entire frequency band, the modulation contrast was higher than 50% with a peak modulation contrast of 87% at 1.38 THz. For spatial light modulation, almost arbitrary spatial pixel sizes can be realized by grouping of mirrors that are collectively switched as a pixel. For fabrication of the actuatable mirrors, we exploited the intrinsic residual stress in chrome-copper-chrome multi-layers that forces the mirrors into an upstanding position at an inclination angle of 35°. By applying a bias voltage of 37 V, the mirrors were pulled down to the substrate. By hysteretic switching, we were able to spatially modulate terahertz radiation at arbitrary pixel modulation patterns.

Recent studies in spintronics have highlighted ultrathin magnetic metallic multilayers as a novel and very promising class of broadband terahertz radiation sources. Such spintronic multilayers consist of ferromagnetic (FM) and non-magnetic (NM) thin films. When triggered by ultrafast laser pulses, they generate pulsed THz radiation due to the inverse spin-Hall effecta mechanism that converts optically driven spin currents from the magnetized FM layer into transient transverse charge currents in the NM layer, resulting in THz emission. As THz emitters, FM/NM multilayers have been intensively investigated so far only at 800-nm excitation wavelength using femtosecond Ti:sapphire lasers. In this work, we demonstrate that an optimized spintronic bilayer structure of 2-nm Fe and 3-nm Pt grown on 500 μm MgO substrate is just as effective as a THz radiation source when excited either at λ = 800 nm or at λ = 1550 nm by ultrafast laser pulses from a fs fiber laser (pulse width ~100 fs, repetition rate ~100 MHz). Even with low incident power levels, the Fe/Pt spintronic emitter exhibits efficient generation of THz radiation at both excitation wavelengths. The efficient THz emitter operation at 1550 nm facilitates the integration of such spintronic emitters in THz systems driven by relatively low cost and compact fs fiber lasers without the need for frequency conversion.

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