Influence of Magnetic Anisotropy on Laser-induced Precession of Magnetization in Ferromagnetic Semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As

The laser-induced precession of magnetization in (Ga,Mn)As samples with different magnetic anisotropy was studied by the time-resolved magneto-optical method. We observed that the dependence of the precession amplitude on the external magnetic field depends strongly on the magnetic anisotropy of (Ga,Mn)As and we explain this phenomenon in terms of competing cubic and uniaxial anisotropies. We also show that the corresponding anisotropy fields can be deduced from the magnetic field dependence of the precession frequency.

Experimental observation of the optical spin-orbit torque

Spin polarized carriers electrically injected into a magnet from an external polarizer can exert a spin transfer torque (STT) on the magnetization. The phe- nomenon belongs to the area of spintronics research focusing on manipulating magnetic moments by electric fields and is the basis of the emerging technologies for scalable magnetoresistive random access memories. In our previous work we have reported experimental observation of the optical counterpart of STT in which a circularly polarized pump laser pulse acts as the external polarizer, allowing to study and utilize the phenomenon on several orders of magnitude shorter timescales than in the electric current induced STT. Recently it has been theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated that in the absence of an external polarizer, carriers in a magnet under applied electric field can develop a non-equilibrium spin polarization due to the relativistic spin-orbit coupling, resulting in a current induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) acting on the magnetization. In this paper we report the observation of the optical counterpart of SOT. At picosecond time-scales, we detect excitations of magnetization of a ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As which are independent of the polarization of the pump laser pulses and are induced by non-equilibrium spin-orbit coupled photo-holes.

Experimental observation of the optical spin transfer torque

The spin transfer torque is a phenomenon in which angular momentum of a spin polarized electrical current entering a ferromagnet is transferred to the magnetization. The effect has opened a new research field of electrically driven magnetization dynamics in magnetic nanostructures and plays an important role in the development of a new generation of memory devices and tunable oscillators. Optical excitations of magnetic systems by laser pulses have been a separate research field whose aim is to explore magnetization dynamics at short time scales and enable ultrafast spintronic devices. We report the experimental observation of the optical spin transfer torque, predicted theoretically several years ago building the bridge between these two fields of spintronics research. In a pump-and-probe optical experiment we measure coherent spin precession in a (Ga,Mn)As ferromagnetic semiconductor excited by circularly polarized laser pulses. During the pump pulse, the spin angular momentum of photo-carriers generated by the absorbed light is transferred to the collective magnetization of the ferromagnet. We interpret the observed optical spin transfer torque and the magnetization precession it triggers on a quantitative microscopic level. Bringing the spin transfer physics into optics introduces a fundamentally distinct mechanism from the previously reported thermal and non-thermal laser excitations of magnets. Bringing optics into the field of spin transfer torques decreases by several orders of magnitude the timescales at which these phenomena are explored and utilized.

Direct measurement of the three dimensional magnetization vector trajectory in GaMnAs by a magneto-optical pump-and-probe method

We report on a quantitative experimental determination of the three-dimensional magnetization vector trajectory in GaMnAs by means of the static and time-resolved pump-and-probe magneto-optical measurements. The experiments are performed in a normal incidence geometry and the time evolution of the magnetization vector is obtained without any numerical modeling of magnetization dynamics. Our experimental method utilizes different polarization dependences of the polar Kerr effect and magnetic linear dichroism to disentangle the pump-induced out-of-plane and in-plane motions of magnetization, respectively. We demonstrate that the method is sensitive enough to allow for the determination of small angle excitations of the magnetization in GaMnAs. The method is readily applicable to other magnetic materials with sufficiently strong circular and linear magneto-optical effects.

Non-thermal laser induced precession of magnetization in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As

Non-thermal laser induced spin excitations, recently discovered in conventional oxide and metal ferromagnets, open unprecedented opportunities for research and applications of ultrafast optical manipulation of magnetic systems. Ferromagnetic semiconductors, and (Ga,Mn)As in particular, should represent ideal systems for exploring this new field. Remarkably, the presence of non-thermal effects has remained one of the outstanding unresolved problems in the research of ferromagnetic semiconductors to date. Here we demonstrate that coherent magnetization dynamics can be excited in (Ga,Mn)As non-thermally by a transfer of angular momentum from circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses and by a combination of non-thermal and thermal effects due to a transfer of energy from laser pulses. The thermal effects can be completely suppressed in piezo-electrically controlled samples. Our work is based on pump-and-probe measurements in a large set of (Ga,Mn)As epilayers and on systematic analysis of circular and linear magneto-optical coefficients. We provide microscopic theoretical interpretation of the experimental results.

Coherent control of magnetization precession in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As

We report single-color, time resolved magneto-optical measurements in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. We demonstrate coherent optical control of the magnetization precession by applying two successive ultrashort laser pulses. The magnetic field and temperature dependent experiments reveal the collective Mn-moment nature of the oscillatory part of the time-dependent Kerr rotation, as well as contributions to the magneto-optical signal that are not connected with the magnetization dynamics.

Light-induced magnetization precession in GaMnAs

We report dynamics of the transient polar Kerr rotation (KR) and of the transient reflectivity induced by femtosecond laser pulses in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As with no external magnetic field applied. It is shown that the measured KR signal consist of several different contributions, among which only the oscillatory signal is directly connected with the ferromagnetic order in (Ga,Mn)As. The origin of the light-induced magnetization precession is discussed and the magnetization precession damping (Gilbert damping) is found to be strongly influenced by annealing of the sample.

Laser-induced Precession of Magnetization in GaMnAs

We report on the photo-induced precession of the ferromagnetically coupled Mn spins in (Ga,Mn)As, which is observed even with no external magnetic field applied. We concentrate on various experimental aspects of the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (TR-MOKE) technique that can be used to clarify the origin of the detected signals. We show that the measured data typically consist of several different contributions, among which only the oscillatory signal is directly connected with the ferromagnetic order in the sample.