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Discovering alternative ways to drive domain wall (DW) dynamics is crucial for advancing spintronic applications. Here we demonstrate via atomistic spin dynamics simulations that optical torques can efficiently drive 90^{\circ} DWs in the Mn2Au antiferromagnet but their spatial symmetry forbids the motion of 180^{\circ} walls. In the steady-state regime, the kinematics display special relativity signatures accessed for low laser intensities. At velocities higher than the magnonic limit, the DW enters a proliferation regime in which part of its relativistic energy is invested into the nucleation of novel magnetic textures. Our investigation contributes towards the fundamental understanding of opto-magnetic effects, supporting the development of next generation, all-optically controlled antiferromagnetic spintronics.

We have computationally studied the properties of higher-order magnetic anisotropy constants in an L10/A1-FePt coreshell system which is characterized by a strong second-order 2-ion Fe-Pt anisotropy component. We show that the coreshell structure induces an unexpected fourth-order anisotropy constant K2 the magnitude of which varies non-monotonically with the core-size ratio R reaching a peak at R = 0.50. Furthermore, we find that K2 scales with the normalized magnetization by (M/Ms)^2.2 at temperatures below the Curie temperature - a remarkable deviation from the established Callen-Callen theory which instead predicts a scaling exponent of 10. We construct an analytic model which demonstrates K2 arises from the canting of the core and shell magnetization, and successfully reproduces and justifies the scaling exponent obtained from numerical simulation., Comment: Manuscript: 6 pages, 4 figures Supplemental: 5 pages, 2 figures Submitted to Physical Review Letters

We employ an atomistic model using a nearest-neighbor Heisenberg Hamiltonian exchange to study computationally the dependence of the Curie temperature of L10-FePt on finite-size and surface effects in Heat-assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) media. We demonstrate the existence of a size threshold at 3.5nm below which the impact of finite-size effects start to permeate into the center of the grains and contribute to the reduction of the Curie temperature. We find a correlation between the Curie temperature and the percentage of atomistic bonds lost on the surface as a function of grain size, which can be extended to apply to not only L10-FePt but also generic magnetic systems of any crystal structure. The investigation gives insight into finite-size effects which, because the inevitable grain size dispersion leads to an irreducible contribution to a dispersion of the Curie temperature, has been predicted to be a serious limitation of HAMR., Comment: Main text: 8 pages, 7 figures; Supplemental: 2 pages, 2 figures. Manuscript submitted to Physical Review B (Regular Article)

Using an atomistic spin model, we have simulated spin wave injection and propagation into antiferromagnetic IrMn from an exchange coupled CoFe layer. The spectral characteristics of the exited spin waves have a complex beating behavior arising from the non-collinear nature of the antiferromagnetic order. We find that the frequency response of the system depends strongly on the strength and frequency of oscillating field excitations. We also find that the strength of excited spin waves strongly decays away from the interfacial layer with a frequency dependent attenuation. Our findings suggest that spin waves generated by coupled ferromagnets are too weak to reverse IrMn in their entirety even with resonant excitation of a coupled ferromagnet. However, efficient spin wave injection into the antiferromagnet is possible due to the non-collinear nature of the IrMn spin ordering., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

Laser-induced manipulation of magnetism at the nanoscale is a rapidly growing research topic with potential for applications in spintronics. In this work, we address the role of the scattering cross section, thermal effects, and laser fluence on the magnetic, structural, and chemical stability of individual magnetic nanoparticles excited by single femtosecond laser pulses. We find that the energy transfer from the fs laser pulse to the nanoparticles is limited by the Rayleigh scattering cross section, which in combination with the light absorption of the supporting substrate and protective layers determines the increase in the nanoparticle temperature. We investigate individual Co nanoparticles (8 to 20 nm in size) as a prototypical model system, using x-ray photoemission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy upon excitation with single femtosecond laser pulses of varying intensity and polarization. In agreement with calculations, we find no deterministic or stochastic reversal of the magnetization in the nanoparticles up to intensities where ultrafast demagnetization or all-optical switching is typically reported in thin films. Instead, at higher fluences, the laser pulse excitation leads to photo-chemical reactions of the nanoparticles with the protective layer, which results in an irreversible change in the magnetic properties. Based on our findings, we discuss the conditions required for achieving laser-induced switching in isolated nanomagnets., Comment: 36 pages, 7 figures

$Co$-doping of $Fe_{3}O_{4}$ magnetic nanoparticles is an effective way to tailor their magnetic properties. When considering the two extreme cases of the $Co_{x}Fe_{3-x}O_{4}$ series, i.e. the $x=0$ and $x=1$ values, one finds that the system evolves from a negative cubic-anisotropy energy constant, $K_{C}^{-}<0$, to a positive one, $K_{C}^{+}>0$. Thus, what happens for intermediate $x$-compositions? In this work we present a very simple phenomenological model for the anisotropy, under the \textit{macrospin} approximation, in which the resultant anisotropy is just directly proportional to the amount of $Co$. First, we perform a detailed analysis on a rather ideal system in which the extreme values have the same magnitude (i.e. $|K_{C}^{-}|=|K_{C}^{+}|$) and then we focus on the real $Co_{x}Fe_{3-x}O_{4}$ system, for which $|K_{C}^{+}|\sim 18|K_{C}^{-}|$. Remarkably, the approach reproduces rather well the experimental values of the heating performance of $Co_{x}Fe_{3-x}O_{4}$ nanoparticles, suggesting that our simple approach may in fact be a good representation of the real situation. This gives rise to an intriguing related possibility arises: a $Co$-doping composition should exist for which the effective anisotropy tends to zero, estimated here as 0.05., Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures

Magnetic nanoparticles constitute potential nanomedicine tools based on the possibility to obtain different responses triggered by safe remote stimulus. However, such richness can be detrimental if the different performances are not accurately differentiated (and controlled). An example of this is the reorientation of magnetic nanoparticles under the influence of AC fields, which can be exploited for either magneto-mechanical actuation (MMA) at low frequencies (tens of Hz); or heat release at large ones (MHz range). While it is clear that Brownian rotation is responsible for MMA, its heating role in the high-frequency regime is not clear. In this work we aim to shed light on this issue, which needs to be well understood for applications in magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) or heat triggered drug release. Using a Brownian dynamics (BD) simulation technique, we have theoretically investigated the contribution of Brownian reversal in disk-shape particles (to enhance the viscous interaction with the environment) over a wide range of frequencies. Our results predict essentially negligible hysteresis losses both in the high- and low-frequency domains, with completely different implications: highly efficient MMA, but negligible MFH performance. Importantly, complementary micromagnetic simulations indicate that the large magnetic torque assumption of the BD simulations is supported by hexagonal-shape disks, up to field amplitudes of the order of 100 Oe. Larger fields would lead to N\'eel reversal which, noteworthy, predicts significant heating performance. The possibility of switching between the MMA and MFH response by changing the amplitude of the AC field, together with their distinct optimal conditions (large magnetic torque for MMF; large heating for MFH), points to such hexagonal nanodisks as promising nanomedicine agents with double mechanical and heating functionalities., Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures

Magnetic recording using circularly polarized femto-second laser pulses is an emerging technology that would allow write speeds much faster than existing field driven methods. However, the mechanism that drives the magnetization switching in ferromagnets is unclear. Recent theories suggest that the interaction of the light with the magnetized media induces an opto-magnetic field within the media, known as the inverse Faraday effect. Here we show that an alternative mechanism, driven by thermal excitation over the anisotropy energy barrier and a difference in the energy absorption depending on polarization, can create a net magnetization over a series of laser pulses in an ensemble of single domain grains. Only a small difference in the absorption is required to reach magnetization levels observed experimentally and the model does not preclude the role of the inverse Faraday effect but removes the necessity that the opto-magnetic field is 10s of Tesla in strength., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures

Zero Field Cooling (ZFC) and Field Cooling (FC) protocols are commonly used to investigate the properties of magnetic nanoparticle systems. For non-interacting conditions the particle properties are fairly well correlated with the shape of the ZFC/FC curves. However, that is not the case when significant dipolar interparticle interactions (DII) are present, what frequently occurs in experimental samples (e.g. aggregates in biological systems; or the dried powder often used for the ZFC/FC measurements). The purpose of this work is to show how the influence of the DII on the ZFC/FC curves, computed by the volume sample concentration c, can be described in a general way if scaled by the dimensionless parameter c_0 = 2K/M_S^2; where K and M_S are the anisotropy and saturation magnetization constants of the particles, respectively. This scaling parameter, which is straightforwardly derived from the energy equation governing the system, has an analogous meaning to the normalization of the external magnetic field H by the anisotropy field of the particles, H_A = 2K/M_S. We use a Monte Carlo technique to show how apparently different T_B vs. c curves of various particles types (where T_B is the blocking temperature), follow the same trend if scaling c/c_0.