Inertial spin dynamics in ferromagnets

The understanding of how spins move and can be manipulated at pico- and femtosecond timescales has implications for ultrafast and energy-efficient data-processing and storage applications. However, the possibility of realizing commercial technologies based on ultrafast spin dynamics has been hampere...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature physics 2021-02, Vol.17 (2), p.245-250
Main Authors: Neeraj, Kumar, Awari, Nilesh, Kovalev, Sergey, Polley, Debanjan, Zhou Hagström, Nanna, Arekapudi, Sri Sai Phani Kanth, Semisalova, Anna, Lenz, Kilian, Green, Bertram, Deinert, Jan-Christoph, Ilyakov, Igor, Chen, Min, Bawatna, Mohammed, Scalera, Valentino, d’Aquino, Massimiliano, Serpico, Claudio, Hellwig, Olav, Wegrowe, Jean-Eric, Gensch, Michael, Bonetti, Stefano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/624/1020/1095
639/766/119/2793
639/766/119/544
639/766/119/997
639/766/400/1101
Angular momentum
Approximation
Atomic
Classical and Continuum Physics
Complex Systems
Condensed Matter Physics
Data processing
Energy efficiency
Ferromagnetic materials
Magnetic fields
Magnetism
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Molecular
Nutation
Optical and Plasma Physics
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Radiation
Relaxation time
Spectrum analysis
Spin dynamics
Theoretical
Thin films
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Summary:The understanding of how spins move and can be manipulated at pico- and femtosecond timescales has implications for ultrafast and energy-efficient data-processing and storage applications. However, the possibility of realizing commercial technologies based on ultrafast spin dynamics has been hampered by our limited knowledge of the physics behind processes on this timescale. Recently, it has been suggested that inertial effects should be considered in the full description of the spin dynamics at these ultrafast timescales, but a clear observation of such effects in ferromagnets is still lacking. Here, we report direct experimental evidence of intrinsic inertial spin dynamics in ferromagnetic thin films in the form of a nutation of the magnetization at a frequency of ~0.5 THz. This allows us to reveal that the angular momentum relaxation time in ferromagnets is on the order of 10 ps. Inertial dynamics are observed in a ferromagnet. Specifically, a nutation is seen on top of the usual spin precession that has a lifetime on the order of 10 picoseconds.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/s41567-020-01040-y