Magnetization and microstructure dynamics in Fe/MnAs/GaAs(001): Fe magnetization reversal by a femtosecond laser pulse

Thin film magnetization reversal without applying external fields is an attractive perspective for applications in sensors and devices. One way to accomplish it is by fine-tuning the microstructure of a magnetic substrate via temperature control, as in the case of a thin Fe layer deposited on a MnAs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2014-12, Vol.113 (24), p.247202-247202, Article 247202
Main Authors: Spezzani, C, Ferrari, E, Allaria, E, Vidal, F, Ciavardini, A, Delaunay, R, Capotondi, F, Pedersoli, E, Coreno, M, Svetina, C, Raimondi, L, Zangrando, M, Ivanov, R, Nikolov, I, Demidovich, A, Danailov, M B, Popescu, H, Eddrief, M, De Ninno, G, Kiskinova, M, Sacchi, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Dynamical systems
Dynamics
Lasers
Magnetic properties
Magnetization
Magnetization reversal
Microstructure
Physics
Thin films
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Summary:Thin film magnetization reversal without applying external fields is an attractive perspective for applications in sensors and devices. One way to accomplish it is by fine-tuning the microstructure of a magnetic substrate via temperature control, as in the case of a thin Fe layer deposited on a MnAs/GaAs(001) template. This work reports a time-resolved resonant scattering study exploring the magnetic and structural properties of the Fe/MnAs system, using a 100 fs optical laser pulse to trigger local temperature variations and a 100 fs x-ray free-electron laser pulse to probe the induced magnetic and structural dynamics. The experiment provides direct evidence that a single optical laser pulse can reverse the Fe magnetization locally. It reveals that the time scale of the magnetization reversal is slower than that of the MnAs structural transformations triggered by the optical pulse, which take place after a few picoseconds already.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.247202