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A material’s magnetic state and its dynamics are of great fundamental research interest and are also at the core of a wide plethora of modern technologies. However, reliable access to magnetization dynamics in materials and devices on the technologically relevant ultrafast timescale, and under realistic device-operation conditions, remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a method of ultrafast terahertz (THz) magnetometry, which gives direct access to the (sub-)picosecond magnetization dynamics even in encapsulated materials or devices in a contact-free fashion, in a fully calibrated manner, and under ambient conditions. As a showcase for this powerful method, we measure the ultrafast magnetization dynamics in a laser-excited encapsulated iron film. Our measurements reveal and disentangle distinct contributions originating from (i) incoherent hot-magnon-driven magnetization quenching and (ii) coherent acoustically-driven modulation of the exchange interaction in iron, paving the way to technologies utilizing ultrafast heat-free control of magnetism. High sensitivity and relative ease of experimental arrangement highlight the promise of ultrafast THz magnetometry for both fundamental studies and the technological applications of magnetism., Nature Communications, 11 (1), ISSN:2041-1723

The spin Hall effect in heavy-metal thin films is routinely employed to convert charge currents into transverse spin currents and can be used to exert torque on adjacent ferromagnets. Conversely, the inverse spin Hall effect is frequently used to detect spin currents by charge currents in spintronic devices up to the terahertz frequency range. Numerous techniques to measure the spin Hall effect or its inverse were introduced, most of which require extensive sample preparation by multi-step lithography. To enable rapid screening of materials in terms of charge-to-spin conversion, suitable high-throughput methods for measuring the spin Hall angle are required. Here, we compare two lithography-free techniques, terahertz emission spectroscopy and broadband ferromagnetic resonance, to standard harmonic Hall measurements and theoretical predictions using the binary-alloy series Au$_x$Pt$_{1-x}$ as benchmark system. Despite being highly complementary, we find that all three techniques yield a spin Hall angle with approximately the same $x$~dependence, which is also consistent with first-principles calculations. Quantitative discrepancies are discussed in terms of magnetization orientation and interfacial spin-memory loss., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

Reliable modulation of terahertz electromagnetic waveforms is important for many applications. Here, we rapidly modulate the direction of the electric field of linearly polarized terahertz electromagnetic pulses with 1–30 THz bandwidth by applying time-dependent magnetic fields to a spintronic terahertz emitter. Polarity modulation of the terahertz field with more than 99% contrast at a rate of 10 kHz is achieved using a harmonic magnetic field. By adding a static magnetic field, we modulate the direction of the terahertz field between angles of, for instance, −53° and 53° at kilohertz rates. We believe our approach makes spintronic terahertz emitters a promising source for low-noise modulation spectroscopy and polarization-sensitive techniques such as ellipsometry at 1–30 THz.

We study the impact of an external electric DC field on antenna-coupled spintronic THz emitters driven by a 90 fs, 1550 nm laser oscillator. Simultaneous application of external electric and magnetic field shows a quadratic decrease in peak-peak THz pulse with increase in the bias voltage. We ascribe this decrease to Joule heating caused by the DC current flowing through the spintronic material.

We demonstrate antenna-coupled spintronic terahertz (THz) emitters excited by 1550 nm, 90 fs laser pulses. Antennas are employed to optimize THz outcoupling and frequency coverage of ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic metallic spintronic structures. We directly compare the antenna-coupled devices to those without antennas. Using a 200 μm H-dipole antenna and an ErAs:InGaAs photoconductive receiver, we obtain a 2.42-fold larger THz peak-peak signal, a bandwidth of 4.5 THz, and an increase in the peak dynamic range (DNR) from 53 dB to 65 dB. A 25 μm slotline antenna offered 5 dB larger peak DNR and a bandwidth of 5 THz. For all measurements, we use a comparatively low laser power of 45 mW from a commercial fiber-coupled system that is frequently employed in table-top THz time-domain systems.We demonstrate antenna-coupled spintronic terahertz (THz) emitters excited by 1550 nm, 90 fs laser pulses. Antennas are employed to optimize THz outcoupling and frequency coverage of ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic metallic spintronic structures. We directly compare the antenna-coupled devices to those without antennas. Using a 200 μm H-dipole antenna and an ErAs:InGaAs photoconductive receiver, we obtain a 2.42-fold larger THz peak-peak signal, a bandwidth of 4.5 THz, and an increase in the peak dynamic range (DNR) from 53 dB to 65 dB. A 25 μm slotline antenna offered 5 dB larger peak DNR and a bandwidth of 5 THz. For all measurements, we use a comparatively low laser power of 45 mW from a commercial fiber-coupled system that is frequently employed in table-top THz time-domain systems.

We systematically study the pump-wavelength dependence of terahertz pulse generation in thin-film spintronic THz emitters composed of a ferromagnetic Fe layer between adjacent nonmagnetic W and Pt layers. We find that the efficiency of THz generation is essentially at for excitation by 150 fs pulses with center wavelengths ranging from 900 to 1500 nm, demonstrating that the spin current does not depend strongly on the pump photon energy. We show that the inclusion of dielectric overlayers of TiO2 and SiO2, designed for a particular excitation wavelength, can enhance the terahertz emission by a factor of of up to two in field., 7 pages including 2 supplementary

Identifying materials with an efficient spin-to-charge conversion is crucial for future spintronic applications. In this respect, the spin Hall effect is a central mechanism as it allows for the interconversion of spin and charge currents. Spintronic material research aims at maximizing its efficiency, quantified by the spin Hall angle and the spin-current relaxation length . We develop an all-optical contact-free method with large sample throughput that allows us to extract and . Employing terahertz spectroscopy and an analytical model, magnetic metallic heterostructures involving Pt, W and Cu80Ir20 are characterized in terms of their optical and spintronic properties. The validity of our analytical model is confirmed by the good agreement with literature DC values. For the samples considered here, we find indications that the interface plays a minor role for the spin-current transmission. Our findings establish terahertz emission spectroscopy as a reliable tool complementing the spintronics workbench., Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 51 (36), ISSN:0022-3727, ISSN:1361-6463

Understanding the transfer of spin angular momentum is essential in modern magnetism research. A model case is the generation of magnons in magnetic insulators by heating an adjacent metal film. Here, we reveal the initial steps of this spin Seebeck effect with, 14 pages, 5 figures

We measure the inverse spin Hall effect of Cu1-xIrx thin films on yttrium iron garnet over a wide range of Ir concentrations (0.05 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.7). Spin currents are triggered through the spin Seebeck effect, either by a continuous (dc) temperature gradient or by ultrafast optical heating of the metal layer. The spin Hall current is detected by electrical contacts or measurement of the emitted terahertz radiation. With both approaches, we reveal the same Ir concentration dependence that follows a novel complex, nonmonotonous behavior as compared to previous studies. For small Ir concentrations a signal minimum is observed, whereas a pronounced maximum appears near the equiatomic composition. We identify this behavior as originating from the interplay of different spin Hall mechanisms as well as a concentration-dependent variation of the integrated spin current density in Cu1-xIrx. The coinciding results obtained for dc and ultrafast stimuli provide further support that the spin Seebeck effect extends to terahertz frequencies, thus enabling a transfer of established spintronic measurement schemes into the terahertz regime. Our findings also show that the studied material allows for efficient spin-to-charge conversion even on ultrafast time scales.

The speed of writing of state-of-the-art ferromagnetic memories is physically limited by an intrinsic gigahertz threshold. Recently, realization of memory devices based on antiferromagnets, in which spin directions periodically alternate from one atomic lattice site to the next has moved research in an alternative direction. We experimentally demonstrate at room temperature that the speed of reversible electrical writing in a memory device can be scaled up to terahertz using an antiferromagnet. A current-induced spin-torque mechanism is responsible for the switching in our memory devices throughout the 12-order-of-magnitude range of writing speeds from hertz to terahertz. Our work opens the path toward the development of memory-logic technology reaching the elusive terahertz band., Science Advances, 4 (3), ISSN:2375-2548

To explore the capabilities of metallic spintronic thin-film stacks as a source of intense and broadband terahertz electromagnetic fields, we excite a W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer on a large-area glass substrate (diameter of 7.5 cm) by a femtosecond laser pulse (energy 5.5 mJ, duration 40 fs, wavelength 800 nm). After focusing, the emitted terahertz pulse is measured to have a duration of 230 fs, a peak field of 300 kV cm$^{-1}$ and an energy of 5 nJ. In particular, the waveform exhibits a gapless spectrum extending from 1 to 10 THz at 10% of amplitude maximum, thereby facilitating nonlinear control over matter in this difficult-to-reach frequency range and on the sub-picosecond time scale., 7 pages, 4 figures

Terahertz electromagnetic radiation is extremely useful for numerous applications such as imaging and spectroscopy. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have an efficient table-top emitter covering the 1-to-30-THz window whilst being driven by a low-cost, low-power femtosecond laser oscillator. So far, all solid-state emitters solely exploit physics related to the electron charge and deliver emission spectra with substantial gaps. Here, we take advantage of the electron spin to realize a conceptually new terahertz source which relies on tailored fundamental spintronic and photonic phenomena in magnetic metal multilayers: ultrafast photo-induced spin currents, the inverse spin-Hall effect and a broadband Fabry-P\'erot resonance. Guided by an analytical model, such spintronic route offers unique possibilities for systematic optimization. We find that a 5.8-nm-thick W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer generates ultrashort pulses fully covering the 1-to-30-THz range. Our novel source outperforms laser-oscillator-driven emitters such as ZnTe(110) crystals in terms of bandwidth, terahertz-field amplitude, flexibility, scalability and cost., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures