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Title: Distinguishing the laser-induced spin precession excitation mechanism in Fe/MgO(001) through field orientation dependent measurements

Abstract

Rotational field dependence of laser-induced magnetization precession in a single-crystal Fe/MgO(001) sample was studied by the time resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. Polar and longitudinal magnetization components were separated by measuring precession dynamics under opposite fields. When the applied field is weaker than the anisotropy field of an Fe film, the precession amplitude is small for the field direction near the easy axis and becomes larger as the field rotates towards the hard axis, showing a four-fold symmetry in agreement with the in-plane magnetic anisotropy; whereas at higher fields, the amplitude displays a drop near the hard axis. Such precession behavior can be well reproduced using an excitation model with rapidly modified but slowly recovered magnetic anisotropy and considering the elliptical precession trajectory. Our results indicate that the dominant mechanism for triggering Fe spin precession is the anisotropy modulation correlating with the lattice thermalization, rather than the transient anisotropy modulation due to the high electron temperature within 1 ps.

Authors:
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Advanced Materials Laboratory, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22399200
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Applied Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 117; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; ANISOTROPY; CRYSTAL STRUCTURE; ELECTRON TEMPERATURE; EXCITATION; INTERFACES; IRON; KERR EFFECT; LASER RADIATION; MAGNESIUM OXIDES; MAGNETIZATION; MODULATION; MONOCRYSTALS; ORIENTATION; PRECESSION; SPIN; THERMALIZATION; THIN FILMS; TIME RESOLUTION; TRANSIENTS

Citation Formats

Ma, T. P., Zhang, S. F., Yang, Y., Chen, Z. H., Zhao, H. B., E-mail: hbzhao@fudan.edu.cn, Wu, Y. Z., E-mail: wuyizheng@fudan.edu.cn, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093. Distinguishing the laser-induced spin precession excitation mechanism in Fe/MgO(001) through field orientation dependent measurements. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4905249.
Ma, T. P., Zhang, S. F., Yang, Y., Chen, Z. H., Zhao, H. B., E-mail: hbzhao@fudan.edu.cn, Wu, Y. Z., E-mail: wuyizheng@fudan.edu.cn, & Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093. Distinguishing the laser-induced spin precession excitation mechanism in Fe/MgO(001) through field orientation dependent measurements. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905249
Ma, T. P., Zhang, S. F., Yang, Y., Chen, Z. H., Zhao, H. B., E-mail: hbzhao@fudan.edu.cn, Wu, Y. Z., E-mail: wuyizheng@fudan.edu.cn, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093. 2015. "Distinguishing the laser-induced spin precession excitation mechanism in Fe/MgO(001) through field orientation dependent measurements". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905249.
@article{osti_22399200,
title = {Distinguishing the laser-induced spin precession excitation mechanism in Fe/MgO(001) through field orientation dependent measurements},
author = {Ma, T. P. and Zhang, S. F. and Yang, Y. and Chen, Z. H. and Zhao, H. B., E-mail: hbzhao@fudan.edu.cn and Wu, Y. Z., E-mail: wuyizheng@fudan.edu.cn and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093},
abstractNote = {Rotational field dependence of laser-induced magnetization precession in a single-crystal Fe/MgO(001) sample was studied by the time resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. Polar and longitudinal magnetization components were separated by measuring precession dynamics under opposite fields. When the applied field is weaker than the anisotropy field of an Fe film, the precession amplitude is small for the field direction near the easy axis and becomes larger as the field rotates towards the hard axis, showing a four-fold symmetry in agreement with the in-plane magnetic anisotropy; whereas at higher fields, the amplitude displays a drop near the hard axis. Such precession behavior can be well reproduced using an excitation model with rapidly modified but slowly recovered magnetic anisotropy and considering the elliptical precession trajectory. Our results indicate that the dominant mechanism for triggering Fe spin precession is the anisotropy modulation correlating with the lattice thermalization, rather than the transient anisotropy modulation due to the high electron temperature within 1 ps.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4905249},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22399200}, journal = {Journal of Applied Physics},
issn = {0021-8979},
number = 1,
volume = 117,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}