Related papers: All-optical non-linear chiral ultrafast magnetizat…
Pinning magnetization in a ferromagnetic thin film is commonly realized through exchange biasing with an adjacent antiferromagnet. Field-cooling from above the N\'{e}el temperature is a reliable yet slow re-pinning method in exchange-biased…
The observed magnetization switching by circularly polarized ultrafast laser pulses has been attributed to the inverse Faraday effect in which the induced non-equilibrium orbital momentum serves as an effective magnetic filed via spin-orbit…
This year the discovery of femtosecond demagnetization by laser pulses is 20 years old. For the first time this milestone work by Bigot and coworkers gave insight in a very direct way into the time scales of microscopic interactions that…
Strong laser-induced magnetization of oxygen gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure is achieved experimentally on the sub-nanosecond time scale. The method is based on controlling the electronic spin of paramagnetic molecules by…
It is well established that light can control magnetism in matter, e.g. via the inverse Faraday effect or ultrafast demagnetization. However, such control is typically limited to magnetization transverse to light's polarization plane, or…
Deterministic all-optical control of magnetization without an applied magnetic field has been reported for different materials such as ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic thin films and granular recording media. These findings have challenged…
We develop a theory of collective spin dynamics triggered by ultrafast optical excitation of ferromagnetic semiconductors. Using the density matrix equations of motion in the mean field approximation and including magnetic anisotropy and…
Irradiating a ferromagnetic material with an ultrashort laser pulse leads to demagnetization on a femtosecond timescale. We implement Elliott-Yafet type spin-flip scattering, mediated by electron-electron and electron-phonon collisions,…
Manipulation of magnetization with ultrashort laser pulses is promising for information storage device applications. The dynamic of the magnetization response depends on the energy transfer from the photons to the spins during the initial…
We predict ultrafast switching in a chiral anti-ferromagnet that occurs at femtosecond times, nearly 5 orders of magnitude faster than the torque induced nanosecond switching previously observed. The physical mechanism, quite different from…
The ability to spatially separate the electric and magnetic fields of a light beam enables the inspection of laser-matter interactions driven solely by optical magnetic fields. However, magnetic field excitations are commonly orders of…
The relationship between magnetization and light has been the subject of intensive research for the past century, focusing on the impact of magnetic moments on light polarization. Conversely, the manipulation of magnetism through polarized…
The control of nonthermal, all-optical magnetization switching under the regime with an independent state of laser polarization opens up new opportunities for ultrafast magnetic recording. Here, we investigate the photo-magnetic…
Since the beginning of femtomagnetism, it has been hotly debated how an ultrafast laser pulse can demagnetize a sample and switch its spins within a few hundred femtoseconds, but no consensus has been reached. In this paper, we propose that…
The Faraday effect, caused by a magnetic-field-induced change in the optical properties, takes place in a vast variety of systems from a single atomic layer of graphenes to huge galaxies. Currently, it plays a pivot role in many…
We present a theory for the coherent magnetization dynamics induced by a focused ultrafast laser beam in magnetic films, taking into account nonthermal (inverse Faraday effect) and thermal (heating) actuation. The dynamic conversion between…
We predict a strong-field ultrafast optical Faraday effect, where a circularly polarized ultrashort optical pulse induces transient chirality in an achiral transparent dielectric. This effect is attractive for time-resolved measurements…
Engineering and controlling heat and spin transport on the femtosecond time-scale in spintronic devices opens up new ways to manipulate magnetization with unprecedented speed. Yet the underlying reversal mechanisms remain poorly understood…
Controlled interaction of laser light with electron beams is fundamental for ultrafast electron microscopy and electron-based quantum optics, yet their direct coupling is forbidden in free space. Here we use longitudinally polarized light…
The coupling of laser light to matter can exert sub-cycle coherent control over material properties, with optically induced currents and magnetism shown to be controllable on ultrafast femtosecond time scales. Here, by employing laser light…