Distinct Ultrafast Electronic and Magnetic Response in M-edge Magnetic Circular Dichroism

Abstract

Experimental investigations of ultrafast magnetization dynamics increasingly employ resonant magnetic spectroscopy in the ultraviolet spectral range. Besides allowing to disentangle the element-specific transient response of functional magnetic systems, these techniques also promise to access attosecond to few-femtosecond dynamics of spin excitations. Here, we report on a systematic study of transient magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) on the transition metals Fe, Co and Ni as well as on a FeNi and GdFe alloy and reveal a delayed onset between the electronic and magnetic response. Supported by \textit{ab-initio} calculations, we attribute our observation to a transient energy shift of the absorption and MCD spectra at the corresponding elemental resonances due to non-equilibrium changes of electron occupations.

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• Ultrafast Opto-magnetic Effects in the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectral Range
• Ultrafast behavior of induced and intrinsic magnetic moments in CoFeB/Pt bilayers probed by element-specific measurements in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range
• Spectroscopic probe of ultrafast magnetization dynamics in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range
• Time-Resolved XUV absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism at the Ni $M_{2,3}$-edges
• Ultrafast element-resolved magneto-optics using a fiber-laser-driven extreme ultraviolet light source