All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures

Abstract

The interplay of light and magnetism has been a topic of interest since the original observations of Faraday and Kerr where magnetic materials affect the light polarization. While these effects have historically been exploited to use light as a probe of magnetic materials there is increasing research on using polarized light to alter or manipulate magnetism. For instance deterministic magnetic switching without any applied magnetic fields using laser pulses of the circular polarized light has been observed for specific ferrimagnetic materials. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, optical control of ferromagnetic materials ranging from magnetic thin films to multilayers and even granular films being explored for ultra-high-density magnetic recording. Our finding shows that optical control of magnetic materials is a much more general phenomenon than previously assumed. These results challenge the current theoretical understanding and will have a major impact on data memory and storage industries via the integration of optical control of ferromagnetic bits.

21 pages, 11 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Super-Diffusive Spin-Transport as a Mechanism of Ultrafast Demagnetization

Cited by in corpus (27)

• Recent progress in voltage control of magnetism: Materials, mechanisms, and performance
• Perspective: Ultrafast magnetism and THz spintronics
• Ultrafast photo-magnetic recording in transparent medium
• Theory of Out-of-Equilibrium Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics in Metals
• Picosecond all-optical switching of magnetic tunnel junctions
• Sub-diffraction sub-100 ps all-optical magnetic switching by passive wavefront shaping
• A light induced metastable magnetic texture uncovered by in-situ Lorentz microscopy
• Laser-induced torques in metallic ferromagnets
• Manipulating magnetism by ultrafast control of the exchange interaction
• Relativistic theory of spin relaxation mechanisms in the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation of spin dynamics
• Single shot all optical switching of intrinsic micron size magnetic domains of a Pt/Co/Pt ferromagnetic stack
• All-optical spin switching: A new frontier in femtomagnetism -- A short review and a simple theory
• Magnetic switching in granular FePt layers promoted by near-field laser enhancement
• Fundamentals of magnon-based computing
• Manipulating Femtosecond Spin--Orbit Torques with Laser Pulse Sequences to Control Magnetic Memory States and Ringing
• Switching ferromagnetic spins by an ultrafast laser pulse: Emergence of giant optical spin-orbit torque
• First-principles and model simulation of all-optical spin reversal
• Photon-gated spin transistor
• Domain-wall motion induced by spin transfer torque delivered by helicity-dependent femtosecond laser
• Heat diffusion in magnetic superlattices on glass substrates
• Is perpendicular magnetic anisotropy essential to all-optical ultrafast spin reversal in ferromagnets?
• Optically induced spin-dependent diffusive transport in the presence of spin-orbit interaction for all-optical magnetization reversal
• Demagnetizing fields in all-optical switching
• Ultra-low magnetic damping in Co 2 Mn-based Heusler compounds: promising materials for spintronic
• Magneto-Plasmonics and Resonant Interaction of Light with Dynamic Magnetisation in Metallic and All-Dielectric Nanostructures (Review)
• Shape anisotropy of magnetic nanoparticles in (Co${}_{86}$Nb${}_{12}$Ta${}_2$)${}_x$(SiO${}_2$)${}_{1-x}$ composite films revealed by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering
• Nanoscale confinement of all-optical switching in TbFeCo using plasmonic antennas