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Register a new userBlueprint for deterministic all-optical switching of magnetization
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We resolve a significant controversy about how to understand and engineer single-shot all-optical switching of magnetization in ferrimagnets using femto- or picosecond-long heat pulses. By realistically modelling a generic ferrimagnet as two coupled macrospins, we comprehensively show that the net magnetization can be reversed via different pathways, using a heat pulse with duration spanning all relevant timescales within the non-adiabatic limit. This conceptual understanding is fully validated by experiments studying the material and optical limits at which the switching process in GdFeCo alloys loses its reliability. Our interpretation and results constitute a blueprint for understanding how deterministic all-optical switching can be achieved in alternative ferrimagnets using short thermal pulses.
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Using photo-emission electron microscopy with X-ray magnetic circular dichroism as a contrast mechanism, new insights into the all-optical magnetization switching (AOS) phenomenon in GdFe based rare-earth transition metal ferrimagnetic alloys are provided. From a sequence of static images taken after single linearly polarized laser pulse excitation, the repeatability of AOS can be measured with a correlation coefficient. It is found that low coercivity enables thermally activated domain wall motion, limiting in turn the repeatability of the switching. Time-resolved measurement of the magnetization dynamics reveal that while AOS occurs below and above the magnetization compensation temperature $T_text{M}$, it is not observed in GdFe samples where $T_text{M}$ is absent. Finally, AOS is experimentally demonstrated against an applied magnetic field of up to 180 mT.
Efficient control of a magnetization without an application of the external magnetic fields is the ultimate goal of spintronics. We demonstrate, that in monolayers of $text{CrI}_3$, magnetization can be switched all optically, by application of the resonant pulses of circularly polarized light. This happens because of the efficient coupling of the lattice magnetization with bright excitonic transition. $text{CrI}_3$ is thus perspective functional material with high potential for applications in the domains of spintronics and ultra-fast magnetic memory.
Symmetry breaking is a characteristic to determine which branch of a bifurcation system follows upon crossing a critical point. Specifically, in spin-orbit torque (SOT) devices, a fundamental question arises: how to break the symmetry of the perpendicular magnetic moment by the in-plane spin polarization? Here, we show that the chiral symmetry breaking by the DMI can induce the deterministic SOT switching of the perpendicular magnetization. By introducing a gradient of saturation magnetization or magnetic anisotropy, non-collinear spin textures are formed by the gradient of effective SOT strength, and thus the chiral symmetry of the SOT-induced spin textures is broken by the DMI, resulting in the deterministic magnetization switching. We introduce a strategy to induce an out-of-plane (z) gradient of magnetic properties, as a practical solution for the wafer-scale manufacture of SOT devices.
All-optical switching (AOS) of magnetic domains by femtosecond laser pulses was first observed in the transition metal-rare earth (TM-RE) alloy GdFeCo1-5; this phenomenon demonstrated the potential for optical control of magnetism for the development of ever faster future magnetic recording technologies. The technological potential of AOS has recently increased due to the discovery of the same effect in other materials, including RE-free magnetic multilayers6,7. However, to be technologically meaningful, AOS must compete with the bit densities of conventional storage devices, restricting optically-switched magnetic areas to sizes well below the diffraction limit. Here, we demonstrate reproducible and robust all-optical switching of magnetic domains of 53 nm size in a ferrimagnetic TbFeCo alloy using gold plasmonic antenna structures. The confined nanoscale magnetic reversal is imaged around and beneath plasmonic antennas using x-ray resonant holographic imaging. Our results demonstrate the potential of future AOS-based magnetic recording technologies.
All-optical control dynamics of magnetization in sub-10 nm metallic thin films are investigated, as these films with quantum confinement undergo unique interactions with femtosecond laser pulses. Our theoretical derivations based on the free electron model show that the density of states at Fermi level (DOS_F) and electron-phonon coupling coefficients (G_ep) in ultrathin metals have very high sensitivity to film thickness within a few Angstroms. As DOS_F and G_ep depend on thickness, we show that completely different magnetization dynamics characteristics emerge compared with bulk metals. Our model suggests highly-efficient energy transfer from fs laser photons to spin waves due to minimal energy absorption by phonon. This sensitivity to thickness and efficient energy transfer offers an opportunity to obtain ultrafast on-chip magnetization dynamics.
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