Transient non-collinear magnetic state for all-optical magnetization switching

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Parchenko, Sergii, Frej, Antoni, Ueda, Hiroki, Carley, Robert, Mercadier, Laurent, Gerasimova, Natalia, Mercurio, Giuseppe, Schlappa, Justine, Yaroslavtsev, Alexander, Agarwal, Naman, Gort, Rafael, Scherz, Andreas, Zvezdin, Anatoly, Stupakiewicz, Andrzej, Staub, Urs
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Parchenko, Sergii
Frej, Antoni
Ueda, Hiroki
Carley, Robert
Mercadier, Laurent
Gerasimova, Natalia
Mercurio, Giuseppe
Schlappa, Justine
Yaroslavtsev, Alexander
Agarwal, Naman
Gort, Rafael
Scherz, Andreas
Zvezdin, Anatoly
Stupakiewicz, Andrzej
Staub, Urs
author_facet Parchenko, Sergii
Frej, Antoni
Ueda, Hiroki
Carley, Robert
Mercadier, Laurent
Gerasimova, Natalia
Mercurio, Giuseppe
Schlappa, Justine
Yaroslavtsev, Alexander
Agarwal, Naman
Gort, Rafael
Scherz, Andreas
Zvezdin, Anatoly
Stupakiewicz, Andrzej
Staub, Urs
contents Resonant absorption of a photon by bound electrons in a solid can promote an electron to another orbital state or transfer it to a neighboring atomic site. Such a transition in a magnetically ordered material could affect the magnetic order. While this process is an obvious road map for optical control of magnetization, experimental demonstration of such a process remains challenging. Exciting a significant fraction of magnetic ions requires a very intense incoming light beam, as orbital resonances are often weak compared to above-band-gap excitations. In the latter case, a sizeable reduction of the magnetization occurs as the absorbed energy increases the spin temperature, masking the non-thermal optical effects. Here, using ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy, we were able to resolve changes in the magnetization state induced by resonant absorption of infrared photons in Co-doped yttrium iron garnet, with negligible thermal effects. We found that the optical excitation of the Co ions affects the two distinct magnetic Fe sublattices differently, resulting in a transient non-collinear magnetic state. The present results indicate that the all-optical magnetization switching most likely occurs due to the creation of a transient, non-collinear magnetic state followed by coherent spin rotations of the Fe moments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_08890
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Transient non-collinear magnetic state for all-optical magnetization switching
Parchenko, Sergii
Frej, Antoni
Ueda, Hiroki
Carley, Robert
Mercadier, Laurent
Gerasimova, Natalia
Mercurio, Giuseppe
Schlappa, Justine
Yaroslavtsev, Alexander
Agarwal, Naman
Gort, Rafael
Scherz, Andreas
Zvezdin, Anatoly
Stupakiewicz, Andrzej
Staub, Urs
Materials Science
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Optics
Resonant absorption of a photon by bound electrons in a solid can promote an electron to another orbital state or transfer it to a neighboring atomic site. Such a transition in a magnetically ordered material could affect the magnetic order. While this process is an obvious road map for optical control of magnetization, experimental demonstration of such a process remains challenging. Exciting a significant fraction of magnetic ions requires a very intense incoming light beam, as orbital resonances are often weak compared to above-band-gap excitations. In the latter case, a sizeable reduction of the magnetization occurs as the absorbed energy increases the spin temperature, masking the non-thermal optical effects. Here, using ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy, we were able to resolve changes in the magnetization state induced by resonant absorption of infrared photons in Co-doped yttrium iron garnet, with negligible thermal effects. We found that the optical excitation of the Co ions affects the two distinct magnetic Fe sublattices differently, resulting in a transient non-collinear magnetic state. The present results indicate that the all-optical magnetization switching most likely occurs due to the creation of a transient, non-collinear magnetic state followed by coherent spin rotations of the Fe moments.
title Transient non-collinear magnetic state for all-optical magnetization switching
topic Materials Science
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.08890