Direct light–induced spin transfer between different elements in a spintronic Heusler material via femtosecond laser excitationDepartment of Physics and JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO, USA.
Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Quantum Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.
Quantum Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA.
Department of Physics and JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO, USA; Quantum Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA.
Quantum Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA.
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, I. Physikalisches Institut, Göttingen, Germany.
Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Department of Physics and JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO, USA.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden; School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden; School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
Department of Physics and JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO, USA.
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2020 (English)In: Science Advances, E-ISSN 2375-2548, Vol. 6, no 3, article id eaaz1100Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Heusler compounds are exciting materials for future spintronics applications because they display a wide range of tunable electronic and magnetic interactions. Here, we use a femtosecond laser to directly transfer spin polarization from one element to another in a half-metallic Heusler material, Co2MnGe. This spin transfer initiates as soon as light is incident on the material, demonstrating spatial transfer of angular momentum between neighboring atomic sites on time scales < 10 fs. Using ultrafast high harmonic pulses to simultaneously and independently probe the magnetic state of two elements during laser excitation, we find that the magnetization of Co is enhanced, while that of Mn rapidly quenches. Density functional theory calculations show that the optical excitation directly transfers spin from one magnetic sublattice to another through preferred spin-polarized excitation pathways. This direct manipulation of spins via light provides a path toward spintronic devices that can operate on few-femtosecond or faster time scales.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Association for the Advancement of Science , 2020. Vol. 6, no 3, article id eaaz1100
National Category
Other Physics Topics
Research subject
Applied Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-78023DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz1100ISI: 000510488100003PubMedID: 32010777Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85078097848OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-78023DiVA, id: diva2:1413432
Note
Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-03-10 (johcin)
2020-03-102020-03-102024-03-27Bibliographically approved