It is shown theoretically that a single a few picoseconds long acoustic pulse can reverse magnetization in a magneto-strictive material Terfenol-D. Following giant magneto-elastic changes of free energy density the magnetization vector is kicked out of a local in-plane energy mininum and decays into another minimum. For acoustic pulse duration significantly shorter than magnetization precession period τac<<Tprec, the switching threshold is determined by the {\it acoustic pulse area}, i.e. pulse integral in time domain, similar to coherent phenomena in optics. Simulation results are summarized in a magneto-acoustic switching diagram and discussed in the context of all-optical magnetization switching by circularly polarized light pulses.
@article{arxiv.1212.0669,
title = {Magnetization switching by ultrashort acoustic pulses},
author = {O. Kovalenko and T. Pezeril and V. V. Temnov},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1212.0669},
year = {2013}
}