Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Off-resonant magnetization dynamics phase-locked to an intense phase-stable terahertz transient

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 720–723 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Controlling magnetization dynamics with a femtosecond laser is attracting interest both in fundamental science and in industry because of the potential to achieve magnetic switching at ever faster speeds. Here, we report a coherent, phase-locked coupling between a high-field single-cycle terahertz transient and the magnetization of ferromagnetic cobalt films. The visualized magnetization dynamics follow the temporal terahertz field oscillation, are tightly locked to the terahertz phase and are induced in the absence of resonant excitations and energy deposition. The magnetic response occurs on the timescale of the stimulus and is thus two orders of magnitude faster than the Larmor precession response. The experimental results are excellently reproduced by the Landau–Lifshift–Gilbert semi-empirical model, indicating its applicability to ultrafast magnetization dynamics and also demonstrating the marginal effect of the co-propagating terahertz electric field. This novel phenomenon of phase-locked control of magnetization with a strong terahertz field suggests new opportunities for ultrafast data storage.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) set-up that allows for the measurement of ultrafast moment dynamics on a room-temperature cobalt sample surface.
Figure 2: Measurements of the phase-locked out-of-plane magnetization dynamics initiated by the strong terahertz transient.
Figure 3: Magnetization response dependence on the terahertz input polarization direction.
Figure 4: Magnetic response as a function of terahertz field strength.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Baibich, M. N. et al. Giant magnetoresistance of (001)Fe/(001)Cr magnetic superlattices. Phys. Rev. Lett. 61, 2472–2475 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Binasch, G., Grunberg, P., Saurenbach, F. & Zinn, W. Enhanced magnetoresistance in layered magnetic structures with antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange. Phys. Rev. B 39, 4828–4830 (1989).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Beaurepaire, E., Merle, J. C., Daunois, A. & Bigot, J. Y. Ultrafast spin dynamics in ferromagnetic nickel. Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 4250–4253 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Koopmans, B., van Kampen, M., Kohlhepp, J. T. & de Jonge, W. J. M. Ultrafast magneto-optics in nickel: magnetics or optics? Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 844–847 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kirilyuk, A., Kimel, A. & Rasing, T. Ultrafast optical manipulation of magnetic order. Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 2731–2784 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ostler, T. A. et al. Ultrafast heating as a sufficient stimulus for magnetization reversal in a ferrimagnet. Nat. Commun. 3, 666 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hansteen, F., Kimel, A., Kirilyuk, A. & Rasing, T. Nonthermal ultrafast optical control of the magnetization in garnet films. Phys. Rev. B 73, 014421 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bigot, J. Y., Vomir, M. & Beaurepaire, E. Coherent ultrafast magnetism induced by femtosecond laser pulses. Nature Phys. 5, 515–520 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kampfrath, T. et al. Coherent terahertz control of antiferromagnetic spin waves. Nature Photon. 5, 31–34 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Foerst, M. et al. Driving magnetic order in a manganite by ultrafast lattice excitation. Phys. Rev. B 84, 241104(R) (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kimel, A. V. et al. Ultrafast non-thermal control of magnetization by instantaneous photomagnetic pulses. Nature 435, 655–657 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hauri, C. P., Ruchert, C., Vicario, C. & Ardana, F. Strong-field single-cycle THz pulses generated in an organic crystal. Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 161116 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ruchert, C., Vicario, C. & Hauri, C. P. Spatiotemporal focusing dynamics of intense supercontinuum THz pulses. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 123902 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wang, Z. et al. Spin dynamics triggered by sub terahertz magnetic field pulses. J. Appl. Phys. 103, 123905 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Landau, L. D. & Lifshitz, E. M. On the theory of the dispersion of magnetic permeability in ferromagnetic bodies. Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 8, 101–114 (1935).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  16. Kiselev, S. I. et al. Microwave oscillations of a nanomagnet driven by a spin-polarized current. Nature 425, 380–383 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Donahue, M. J. & Porter, D. G. OOMMF User's Guide, Version 1.0, Report no. NISTIR 6376 (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1999).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  18. Tudosa, I. et al. The ultimate speed of magnetic switching in granular recording media. Nature 428, 831–833 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out at the Paul Scherrer Institute and was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant PP00P2_128493). The authors acknowledge A. Kleibert for helpful discussions and thank M. Paraliev for support. B.T. is supported by the ERASMUS Mundus program. J.L. acknowledges the DYNAVO project for financial support for upgrading the magnetron sputtering. C.P.H. acknowledges association with the National Center of Competence in Research on Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology (NCCR-MUST).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paul Scherrer Institute, SwissFEL, Villigen PSI, 5232, Switzerland

    C. Vicario, C. Ruchert, F. Ardana-Lamas & C. P. Hauri

  2. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    F. Ardana-Lamas & C. P. Hauri

  3. Paul Scherrer Institute, Condensed Matter Theory Group, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland

    P. M. Derlet

  4. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, LCPMR, UMR CNRS 7614, Paris, 75005, France

    B. Tudu & J. Luning

Authors
  1. C. Vicario
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Ruchert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. F. Ardana-Lamas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. M. Derlet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. B. Tudu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J. Luning
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. C. P. Hauri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

C.P.H. and J.L. conceived the experiment. C.P.H. coordinated the project and wrote the manuscript, together with P.M.D. and C.V. The experiment was performed by C.V., C.R., J.L., F.A. and C.P.H., and B.T. fabricated and characterized the samples. P.M.D. performed numerical investigations of the magnetization dynamics. C.P.H., J.L., C.V., C.R. and P.M.D. contributed to data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. P. Hauri.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary information (PDF 803 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vicario, C., Ruchert, C., Ardana-Lamas, F. et al. Off-resonant magnetization dynamics phase-locked to an intense phase-stable terahertz transient. Nature Photon 7, 720–723 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.209

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.209

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing