Optically controlling the competition between spin flips and intersite spin transfer in a Heusler half-metal on sub-100 fs timescales

Abstract

The direct manipulation of spins via light may provide a path toward ultrafast energy-efficient devices. However, distinguishing the microscopic processes that can occur during ultrafast laser excitation in magnetic alloys is challenging. Here, we study the Heusler compound Co2MnGa, a material that exhibits very strong light-induced spin transfers across the entire M-edge. By combining the element-specificity of extreme ultraviolet high harmonic probes with time-dependent density functional theory, we disentangle the competition between three ultrafast light-induced processes that occur in Co2MnGa: same-site Co-Co spin transfer, intersite Co-Mn spin transfer, and ultrafast spin-flips mediated by spin-orbit coupling. By measuring the dynamic magnetic asymmetry across the entire M-edges of the two magnetic sublattices involved, we uncover the relative dominance of these processes at different probe energy regions and times during the laser pulse. Our combined approach enables a comprehensive microscopic interpretation of laser-induced magnetization dynamics on timescales shorter than 100 fs.

arXiv comment31 pages, 12 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Unraveling Femtosecond Spin and Charge Dynamics with EUV T-MOKE Spectroscopy
• Verification of ultrafast spin transfer effects in FeNi alloys
• A Snapshot of Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory
• Heat-conserving three-temperature model for ultrafast demagnetization of 3d ferromagnets
• Photo-induced modification and relaxation dynamics of Weyl-semimetals
• Photomagnetic-Chiral Anisotropy mediated by Chirality-Driven Asymmetric Spin Splitting