Paradigm of the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect for femtosecond magnetism

Zhang, G. P.; Hübner, Wolfgang; Lefkidis, Georgios; Bai, Yihua; George, Thomas F.

doi:10.1038/nphys1315

Cited by 245 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Several competing processes have been proposed for magnetization dynamics on ultrafast timescales [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . For the trilayer systems explored here, we find that the observed magnetization dynamics in the Ni and buried Fe layer is consistent with superdiffusion of Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of distinct models have been proposed to describe how laser excitation can couple so quickly to the spins, given that the light itself does not directly exert a significant torque on the electron spins. Most of these models are based on phonon-, electronand magnon-mediated spin-flip processes [5][6][7][8][9] , direct laser-induced spin-flips 10 or relativistic spin-light interaction 11 . Most recently, a new model based on superdiffusive spin transport has been proposed 12,13 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ultrafast magnetization enhancement in metallic multilayers driven by superdiffusive spin current

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ultrafast magnetization enhancement in metallic multilayers driven by superdiffusive spin current

et al. 2012

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“…However, a substantial limitation of these techniques lies in the fact that visible light cannot interact with spins directly, enabling access only to those spin resonances that efficiently couple to the orbital degree of freedom via the spin-orbit interaction. As a result, the information about spin dynamics obtained using all-optical pump-probe techniques is quite limited, which often becomes * R.Mikhaylovskiy@science.ru.nl a source of controversy in the area of femtosecond magnetism [18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz emission spectroscopy of laser-induced spin dynamics inTmFeO3andErFeO3orthoferrites

et al. 2014

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Using the examples of laser-induced spin-reorientation phase transitions in TmFeO 3 and ErFeO 3 orthoferrites, we demonstrate that terahertz emission spectroscopy can obtain novel information about ultrafast laser-induced spin dynamics, which is not accessible by more common all-optical methods. The power of the method is evidenced by the fact that, in addition to the expected quasi-ferromagnetic and quasi-antiferromagnetic modes of the iron sublattices, terahertz emission spectroscopy enables detection of a resonance optically excited at an unexpected frequency of ß0.3-0.35 THz. By recording how the amplitude and phase of the excited oscillations depend on temperature and applied magnetic field, we show that the unexpected mode has all the features of a spin resonance of the Fe 3+ ions. We suggest that it can be assigned to transitions between the multiplet sublevels of the 6 A 1 ground state of the Fe +3 ions occupying rare-earth positions.

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“…Most commonly, the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) is exploited as a femtosecond probe of the temporal evolution of magnetization 2 . Despite some controversy about the validity of MOKE as a probe of the magnetization of an excited system on the femtosecond timescale [4][5][6][7] , significant progress has been made: the importance of subtle effects, such as direct transfer of spin angular momentum 8 or coherent magneto-optical processes 9 , have been revealed. Phenomenological and microscopic models have been proposed and further refined [10][11][12][13] .…”

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Laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization in the presence of a nanoscale magnetic domain network

et al. 2012

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Femtosecond magnetization phenomena have been challenging our understanding for over a decade. most experiments have relied on infrared femtosecond lasers, limiting the spatial resolution to a few micrometres. With the advent of femtosecond X-ray sources, nanometric resolution can now be reached, which matches key length scales in femtomagnetism such as the travelling length of excited 'hot' electrons on a femtosecond timescale. Here we study laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization in [Co/Pd] 30 multilayer films, which, for the first time, achieves a spatial resolution better than 100 nm by using femtosecond soft X-ray pulses. This allows us to follow the femtosecond demagnetization process in a magnetic system consisting of alternating nanometric domains of opposite magnetization. no modification of the magnetic structure is observed, but, in comparison with uniformly magnetized systems of similar composition, we find a significantly faster demagnetization time. We argue that this may be caused by direct transfer of spin angular momentum between neighbouring domains.

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Paradigm of the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect for femtosecond magnetism

Cited by 245 publications

References 27 publications

Ultrafast magnetization enhancement in metallic multilayers driven by superdiffusive spin current

Ultrafast magnetization enhancement in metallic multilayers driven by superdiffusive spin current

Terahertz emission spectroscopy of laser-induced spin dynamics inTmFeO3andErFeO3orthoferrites

Laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization in the presence of a nanoscale magnetic domain network

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