Optically controlling the competition between spin flips and intersite spin transfer in a Heusler half-metal on sub–100-fs time scales

Ryan, Sinéad A.; Johnsen, Peter C.; Elhanoty, Mohamed F.; Grafov, Anya; Li, Na; Delin, Anna; Markou, Anastasios; Lesne, Edouard; Felser, Claudia; Eriksson, Olle; Kapteyn, Henry C.; Grånäs, Oscar; Murnane, Margaret M.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi1428

Optically controlling the competition between spin flips and intersite spin transfer in a Heusler half-metal on sub–100-fs time scales

Journal Article · Fri Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Science Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi1428· OSTI ID:2472057

Ryan, Sinéad A. ^[1]; Johnsen, Peter C. ^[1]; Elhanoty, Mohamed F. ^[2]; Grafov, Anya ^[1]; Li, Na ^[1]; Delin, Anna ^[3]; Markou, Anastasios ^[4]; Lesne, Edouard ^[5]; Felser, Claudia ^[5]; Eriksson, Olle ^[6]; Kapteyn, Henry C. ^[7]; Grånäs, Oscar ^[2]; Murnane, Margaret M. ^[1]

JILA, University of Colorado Boulder, 440 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Division of Materials Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box-516, SE 75120, Sweden.
Department of Applied Physics, School of Engineering Sciences, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova University Center, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.; Swedish e-Science Research Center (SeRC), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden.; Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability, Uppsala University, 75121 Uppsala, Sweden.
Physics Department, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.; Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
Division of Materials Theory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box-516, SE 75120, Sweden.; Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability, Uppsala University, 75121 Uppsala, Sweden.
JILA, University of Colorado Boulder, 440 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.; KMLabs Inc., Boulder, CO 80301, USA.

The direct manipulation of spins via light may provide a path toward ultrafast energy-efficient devices. However, distinguishing the microscopic processes that can occur during ultrafast laser excitation in magnetic alloys is challenging. Here, we study the Heusler compound Co₂MnGa, a material that exhibits very strong light-induced spin transfers across the entire M-edge. By combining the element specificity of extreme ultraviolet high-harmonic probes with time-dependent density functional theory, we disentangle the competition between three ultrafast light-induced processes that occur in Co₂MnGa: same-site Co-Co spin transfer, intersite Co-Mn spin transfer, and ultrafast spin flips mediated by spin-orbit coupling. By measuring the dynamic magnetic asymmetry across the entire M-edges of the two magnetic sublattices involved, we uncover the relative dominance of these processes at different probe energy regions and times during the laser pulse. Our combined approach enables a comprehensive microscopic interpretation of laser-induced magnetization dynamics on time scales shorter than 100 femtoseconds.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0002002

OSTI ID:: 2472057

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Vol. 9, Issue 45; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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