1. Roles of heating and helicity in ultrafast all-optical magnetization switching in TbFeCo.
- Author
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Lu, Xianyang, Zou, Xiao, Hinzke, Denise, Liu, Tao, Wang, Yichuan, Cheng, Tuyuan, Wu, Jing, Ostler, Thomas A., Cai, Jianwang, Nowak, Ulrich, Chantrell, Roy W., Zhai, Ya, and Xu, Yongbing
- Subjects
HELICITY (Chemistry) ,KERR electro-optical effect ,CURRENT-induced magnetization switching ,QUANTUM spin models ,TERBIUM spectra - Abstract
Using the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect method, helicity-dependent all-optical magnetization switching (HD-AOS) is observed in ferrimagnetic TbFeCo films. Our results reveal the individual roles of the thermal and nonthermal effects after a single circularly polarized laser pulse. The evolution of this ultrafast switching occurs over different time scales, and a defined magnetization reversal time of 460 fs is shown—the fastest ever observed. Micromagnetic simulations based on a single macro-spin model, taking into account both heating and the inverse Faraday effect, are performed which reproduce HD-AOS demonstrating a linear path for magnetization reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
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