Spin-orbit torque-mediated spin-wave excitation as an alternative paradigm for femtomagnetism

Zhang, Guo Ping; Murakami, M.; Bai, Y. H.; George, Thomas F.; Wu, X. S.

doi:10.1063/1.5110522

Title: Spin-orbit torque-mediated spin-wave excitation as an alternative paradigm for femtomagnetism

Journal Article · 12 September 2019 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5110522 · OSTI ID:1577605

^[1];

^[1]; Bai, Y. H. ^[1]; George, Thomas F. ^[2];

^[3]

Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute, IN (United States)
Univ. of Missouri—St. Louis, St. Louis, MO (United States)
Nanjing Univ. (China)

Laser-induced femtosecond demagnetization, femtomagnetism, provides a potential route to develop faster magnetic storage devices. It is generally thought that the traditional spin-wave theory, which is developed for thermally driven slow demagnetization, cannot explain this rapid demagnetization by design. Here, we show that this traditional spin-wave theory, once augmented by laser-induced spin–orbit torque, provides a highly efficient paradigm for demagnetization, by capturing low-energy spin-wave excitation that is absent in existing mechanisms. Our paradigm is different from existing ones but does not exclude them. Microscopically, we find that optical spin–orbit torque generates massive spin waves across several hundred lattice sites, collapsing the long-range spin-spin correlation within 20 fs. Our result does not only explain new experiments but also establishes an alternative paradigm for femtomagnetism. It is expected to have far-reaching impacts on future research.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States); Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute, IN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; FG02-06ER46304

OSTI ID:: 1577605

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 126; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Laser-induced ultrafast transport and demagnetization at the earliest time: First-principles and real-time investigation Zhang, G. P.; Bai, Y. H.; Jenkins, T. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1810.02925	text	January 2018

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