No Arabic abstract
Terahertz emission spectroscopy (TES) has recently played an important role in unveiling the spin dynamics at a terahertz (THz) frequency range. So far, ferromagnetic (FM)/nonmagnetic (NM) heterostructures have been intensively studied as THz sources. Compensated magnets such as a ferrimagnet (FIM) and antiferromagnet (AFM) are other types of magnetic materials with interesting spin dynamics. In this work, we study TES from compensated magnetic heterostructures including CoGd FIM alloy or IrMn AFM layers. Systematic measurements on composition and temperature dependences of THz emission from CoGd/Pt bilayer structures are conducted. It is found that the emitted THz field is determined by the net spin polarization of the laser induced spin current rather than the net magnetization. The temperature robustness of the FIM based THz emitter is also demonstrated. On the other hand, an AFM plays a different role in THz emission. The IrMn/Pt bilayer shows negligible THz signals, whereas Co/IrMn induces sizable THz outputs, indicating that IrMn is not a good spin current generator, but a good detector. Our results not only suggest that a compensated magnet can be utilized for robust THz emission, but also provide a new approach to study the magnetization dynamics especially near the magnetization compensation point.
In spin-based electronics, information is encoded by the spin state of electron bunches. Processing this information requires the controlled transport of spin angular momentum through a solid, preferably at frequencies reaching the so far unexplored terahertz (THz) regime. Here, we demonstrate, by experiment and theory, that the temporal shape of femtosecond spin-current bursts can be manipulated by using specifically designed magnetic heterostructures. A laser pulse is employed to drive spins from a ferromagnetic Fe thin film into a nonmagnetic cap layer that has either low (Ru) or high (Au) electron mobility. The resulting transient spin current is detected by means of an ultrafast, contactless amperemeter based on the inverse spin Hall effect that converts the spin flow into a THz electromagnetic pulse. We find that the Ru cap layer yields a considerably longer spin-current pulse because electrons are injected in Ru d states that have a much smaller mobility than Au sp states. Thus, spin current pulses and the resulting THz transients can be shaped by tailoring magnetic heterostructures, which opens the door for engineering high-speed spintronic devices as well as broadband THz emitters in particular covering the elusive range from 5 to 10THz.
Due to the lack of a net magnetization both at the interface and in the bulk, antiferromagnets with compensated interfaces may appear incapable of influencing the phase transition in an adjacent superconductor via the spin degree of freedom. We here demonstrate that such an assertion is incorrect by showing that proximity-coupling a compensated antiferromagnetic layer to a superconductor-ferromagnet heterostructure introduces the possibility of controlling the superconducting phase transition. The superconducting critical temperature can in fact be modulated by rotating the magnetization of the single ferromagnetic layer within the plane of the interface, although the system is invariant under rotations of the magnetization in the absence of the antiferromagnetic layer. Moreover, we predict that the superconducting phase transition can trigger a reorientation of the ground state magnetization. Our results show that a compensated antiferromagnetic interface is in fact able to distinguish between different spin-polarizations of triplet Cooper pairs.
We develop a comprehensive, elegant theory to explain terahertz (THz) emission from a superlattice over a wide range of applied electric field,which shows excellent agreement between theory andexperiment for a GaAs/Al{0.3}Ga{0.7As superlattice. Specifically we show that increasing electric field increases THz emission for low fields, then reduces emission for medium fields due to field-induced wave function localization, and then increases emission in the high field due to delocalization and Zener tunneling between minibands. Our theory shows that Zener tunneling resonances yield high THz emission intensities and points to superlattice design improvements.
Terahertz emission between exciton-polariton branches in semiconductor microcavities is expected to be strongly stimulated in the polariton laser regime, due to the high density of particles in the lower state (final state stimulation effect). However, non-radiative scattering processes depopulate the upper state and greatly hinder the efficiency of such terahertz sources. In this work, we suggest a new scheme using multiple microcavities and exploiting the transition between two interband polariton branches located below the exciton level. We compare the non-radiative processes loss rates in single and double cavity devices and we show that a dramatic reduction can be achieved in the latter, enhancing the efficiency of the terahertz emission.
We report on the study of spin-polarized electric currents in diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) quantum wells subjected to an in-plane external magnetic field and illuminated by microwave or terahertz radiation. The effect is studied in (Cd,Mn)Te/(Cd,Mg)Te quantum wells (QWs) and (In,Ga)As/InAlAs:Mn QWs belonging to the well known II-VI and III-V DMS material systems, as well as, in heterovalent AlSb/InAs/(Zn,Mn)Te QWs which represent a promising combination of II-VI and III-V semiconductors. Experimental data and developed theory demonstrate that the photocurrent originates from a spin-dependent scattering of free carriers by static defects or phonons in the Drude absorption of radiation and subsequent relaxation of carriers. We show that in DMS structures the efficiency of the current generation is drastically enhanced compared to non-magnetic semiconductors. The enhancement is caused by the exchange interaction of carrier spins with localized spins of magnetic ions resulting, on the one hand, in the giant Zeeman spin-splitting, and, on the other hand, in the spin-dependent carrier scattering by localized Mn2+ ions polarized by an external magnetic field.