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PUBLICATIONS

Stoner vs. Heisenberg: Ultrafast exchange reduction and magnon generation during laser-induced demagnetization

Published

Author(s)

Thomas J. Silva, Hans T. Nembach, Justin M. Shaw, Emrah Turgut, Dmitriy Zusin, Dominik Legut, Karel Carva, Ronny Knut, Cong Chen, Zhensheng Tao, Stefan Mathias, Martin Aeschlimann, Peter Oppeneer, Henry Kapteyn, Margaret Murnane, Patrik Grychtol

Abstract

Understanding how the electronic band structure of a ferromagnetic material is modified during laser-induced demagnetization on femtosecond timescales has been a long-standing question in condensed matter physics. Here, we use ultrafast high harmonics to measure the time-, energy-, and angle-resolved M-edge magnetic asymmetry spectra for Co films after optical pumping to induce ultrafast demagnetization. This provides a complete data set that we can compare with advanced ab initio magneto-optical calculations. This allows us to explicitly identify and quantify the dominant mechanisms that contribute to ultrafast demagnetization on timescales up to several picoseconds, including a transient reduction in the exchange splitting and the excitation of ultrafast magnons. Surprisingly, we find that the magnon contribution to ultrafast demagnetization is already strong on sub-picosecond timescales, while the reduction in exchange splitting persists to several picosecond timescales.
Citation
Nature Physics
Volume
94
Issue
22
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.220408

Keywords

ultrafast demagnetization, femtosecond, high harmonic generation, extreme ultraviolet, magneto-optic Kerr effect
Metals, Nanotechnology, Nanomagnetics, Physics and Condensed matter

Citation

Silva, T. , Nembach, H. , Shaw, J. , Turgut, E. , Zusin, D. , Legut, D. , Carva, K. , Knut, R. , Chen, C. , Tao, Z. , Mathias, S. , Aeschlimann, M. , Oppeneer, P. , Kapteyn, H. , Murnane, M. and Grychtol, P. (2016), Stoner vs. Heisenberg: Ultrafast exchange reduction and magnon generation during laser-induced demagnetization, Nature Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.220408 (Accessed October 20, 2025)

Issues

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Created December 28, 2016, Updated November 10, 2018
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