All optical excitation of spin polarization in d-wave altermagnets

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Weber, Marius, Wust, Stephan, Haag, Luca, Akashdeep, Akashdeep, Leckron, Kai, Schmitt, Christin, Ramos, Rafael, Kikkawa, Takashi, Saitoh, Eiji, Kläui, Mathias, Šmejkal, Libor, Sinova, Jairo, Aeschlimann, Martin, Jakob, Gerhard, Stadtmüller, Benjamin, Schneider, Hans Christian
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Weber, Marius
Wust, Stephan
Haag, Luca
Akashdeep, Akashdeep
Leckron, Kai
Schmitt, Christin
Ramos, Rafael
Kikkawa, Takashi
Saitoh, Eiji
Kläui, Mathias
Šmejkal, Libor
Sinova, Jairo
Aeschlimann, Martin
Jakob, Gerhard
Stadtmüller, Benjamin
Schneider, Hans Christian
author_facet Weber, Marius
Wust, Stephan
Haag, Luca
Akashdeep, Akashdeep
Leckron, Kai
Schmitt, Christin
Ramos, Rafael
Kikkawa, Takashi
Saitoh, Eiji
Kläui, Mathias
Šmejkal, Libor
Sinova, Jairo
Aeschlimann, Martin
Jakob, Gerhard
Stadtmüller, Benjamin
Schneider, Hans Christian
contents The recently discovered altermagnets exhibit collinear magnetic order with zero net magnetization but with unconventional spin-polarized d/g/i-wave band structures, expanding the known paradigms of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. In addition to novel current-driven electronic transport effects, the unconventional time-reversal symmetry breaking in these systems also makes it possible to obtain a spin response to linearly polarized fields in the optical frequency domain. We show through ab-initio calculations of the prototypical d-wave altermagnet RuO$_2$, with $[C_2\|C_{4z}]$ symmetry combining twofold spin rotation with fourfold lattice rotation, that there is an optical analogue of a spin splitter effect, as the coupling to a linearly polarized exciting laser field makes the d-wave character of the altermagnet directly visible. By magneto-optical measurements on RuO$_2$ films of a few nanometer thickness, we demonstrate the predicted connection between the polarization of an ultrashort pump pulse and the sign and magnitude of a persistent optically excited electronic spin polarization. Our results point to the possibility of exciting and controlling the electronic spin polarization in altermagnets by such ultrashort optical pulses. In addition, the possibility of exciting an electronic spin polarization by linearly polarized optical fields in a compensated system is a unique consequence of the altermagnetic material properties, and our experimental results therefore present an indication for the existence of an altermagnetic phase in ultrathin RuO$_2$ films.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_05187
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle All optical excitation of spin polarization in d-wave altermagnets
Weber, Marius
Wust, Stephan
Haag, Luca
Akashdeep, Akashdeep
Leckron, Kai
Schmitt, Christin
Ramos, Rafael
Kikkawa, Takashi
Saitoh, Eiji
Kläui, Mathias
Šmejkal, Libor
Sinova, Jairo
Aeschlimann, Martin
Jakob, Gerhard
Stadtmüller, Benjamin
Schneider, Hans Christian
Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
The recently discovered altermagnets exhibit collinear magnetic order with zero net magnetization but with unconventional spin-polarized d/g/i-wave band structures, expanding the known paradigms of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. In addition to novel current-driven electronic transport effects, the unconventional time-reversal symmetry breaking in these systems also makes it possible to obtain a spin response to linearly polarized fields in the optical frequency domain. We show through ab-initio calculations of the prototypical d-wave altermagnet RuO$_2$, with $[C_2\|C_{4z}]$ symmetry combining twofold spin rotation with fourfold lattice rotation, that there is an optical analogue of a spin splitter effect, as the coupling to a linearly polarized exciting laser field makes the d-wave character of the altermagnet directly visible. By magneto-optical measurements on RuO$_2$ films of a few nanometer thickness, we demonstrate the predicted connection between the polarization of an ultrashort pump pulse and the sign and magnitude of a persistent optically excited electronic spin polarization. Our results point to the possibility of exciting and controlling the electronic spin polarization in altermagnets by such ultrashort optical pulses. In addition, the possibility of exciting an electronic spin polarization by linearly polarized optical fields in a compensated system is a unique consequence of the altermagnetic material properties, and our experimental results therefore present an indication for the existence of an altermagnetic phase in ultrathin RuO$_2$ films.
title All optical excitation of spin polarization in d-wave altermagnets
topic Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.05187