Relaxation time of terahertz magnons excited at ferromagnetic surfaces

Generation and Propagation of Ultrafast Terahertz Magnons in Atomically Architectured Nanomagnets

Utilizing ultrafast terahertz (THz) magnons, the quanta of collective magnetic excitations, as carriers may provide a promising alternative to overcome the problems associated with electrical losses in nanoelectronic devices and circuits. However, efficient excitation of propagating coherent THz magnons in magnonic nanowaveguides is an essential requirement for the development of such devices. Here, by growing ultrathin ferromagnetic nanostructures on a reconstructed surface, we create well-ordered periodic magnetic nanostripes. We demonstrate that such atomically architectured nanowaveguides not only provide a versatile platform for an efficient generation of THz magnons but also allow for their fast propagation. Our results reveal the complex nature of the spin dynamics within such designed nanowaveguides and pave the way for designing ultrafast magnon-based logic devices with THz operation frequencies.

Giant Spin-Orbit Induced Magnon Nonreciprocity in Ultrathin Ferromagnets

The propagation characteristics of fermionic and bosonic quasiparticles determine the fundamental transport properties of solids and are of great technological relevance for designing logic devices. In particular, nonreciprocity, which describes that a quasiparticle flows preferably along a certain direction of a symmetry path, is an essential requirement to realize logic architectures, e.g., switches, diodes, transistors, etc. Here we introduce a mechanism, which leads to giant nonreciprocity of ultrafast terahertz magnons in ferromagnetic films with a large spin-orbit coupling. The mechanism is based on the competition between the exchange and spin-orbit scattering. We anticipate that the effect can be used to excite nonreciprocal or even unidirectional magnons in a large class of ultrathin films and nanostructures grown on substrates with a large spin-orbit coupling.

Extreme Domain Wall Speeds under Ultrafast Optical Excitation

Time-resolved ultrafast EUV magnetic scattering was used to test a recent prediction of >10  km/s domain wall speeds by optically exciting a magnetic sample with a nanoscale labyrinthine domain pattern. Ultrafast distortion of the diffraction pattern was observed at markedly different timescales compared to the magnetization quenching. The diffraction pattern distortion shows a threshold dependence with laser fluence, not seen for magnetization quenching, consistent with a picture of domain wall motion with pinning sites. Supported by simulations, we show that a speed of ≈66  km/s for highly curved domain walls can explain the experimental data. While our data agree with the prediction of extreme, nonequilibrium wall speeds locally, it differs from the details of the theory, suggesting that additional mechanisms are required to fully understand these effects.

Long-lived spin waves in a metallic antiferromagnet

Collective spin excitations in magnetically ordered crystals, called magnons or spin waves, can serve as carriers in novel spintronic devices with ultralow energy consumption. The generation of well-detectable spin flows requires long lifetimes of high-frequency magnons. In general, the lifetime of spin waves in a metal is substantially reduced due to a strong coupling of magnons to the Stoner continuum. This makes metals unattractive for use as components for magnonic devices. Here, we present the metallic antiferromagnet CeCo2P2, which exhibits long-living magnons even in the terahertz (THz) regime. For CeCo2P2, our first-principle calculations predict a suppression of low-energy spin-flip Stoner excitations, which is verified by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering measurements. By comparison to the isostructural compound LaCo2P2, we show how small structural changes can dramatically alter the electronic structure around the Fermi level leading to the classical picture of the strongly damped magnons intrinsic to metallic systems. Our results not only demonstrate that long-lived magnons in the THz regime can exist in bulk metallic systems, but they also open a path for an efficient search for metallic magnetic systems in which undamped THz magnons can be excited.

Nonlinear Decay of Quantum Confined Magnons in Itinerant Ferromagnets

Quantum confinement leads to the emergence of several magnon modes in ultrathin layered magnetic structures. We probe the lifetime of these quantum confined modes in a model system composed of three atomic layers of Co grown on different surfaces. We demonstrate that the quantum confined magnons exhibit nonlinear decay rates, which strongly depend on the mode number, in sharp contrast to what is assumed in the classical dynamics. Combining the experimental results with those of linear-response density-functional calculations we provide a quantitative explanation for this nonlinear damping effect. The results provide new insights into the decay mechanism of spin excitations in ultrathin films and multilayers and pave the way for tuning the dynamical properties of such structures.

Magnonic crystals: towards terahertz frequencies

This topical review presents an overview of the recent experimental and theoretical attempts on designing magnonic crystals for operation at different frequencies. The focus is put on the microscopic physical mechanisms involved in the formation of the magnonic band structure, allowed as well as forbidden magnon states in various systems, including ultrathin films, multilayers and artificial magnetic structures. The essential criteria for the formation of magnonic bandgaps in different frequency regimes are explained in connection with the magnon dynamics in such structures. The possibility of designing small-size magnonic crystals for operation at ultrahigh frequencies (terahertz and sub-terahertz regime) is discussed. Recently discovered magnonic crystals based on topological defects and using periodic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, are outlined. Different types of magnonic crystals, capable of operation at different frequency regimes, are put within a rather unified picture.

Experimental Realization of Atomic-Scale Magnonic Crystals

We introduce a new approach of materials design for terahertz magnonics making use of quantum confinement of terahertz magnons in layered ferromagnets. We show that in atomically designed multilayers composed of alternating atomic layers of ferromagnetic metals one can efficiently excite different magnon modes associated with the quantum confinement in the third dimension, i.e., the direction perpendicular to the layers. We demonstrate experimentally that the magnonic band structure of these systems can be tuned by changing the material combination and the number of atomic layers. We realize the idea of opening band gaps, with a size of up to several tens of millielectronvolts, between different terahertz magnon bands and thereby report on the first step toward the realization of atomic-scale magnonic crystals.

Revealing the Nature of the Ultrafast Magnetic Phase Transition in Ni by Correlating Extreme Ultraviolet Magneto-Optic and Photoemission Spectroscopies

By correlating time- and angle-resolved photoemission and time-resolved transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements, both at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, we uncover the universal nature of the ultrafast photoinduced magnetic phase transition in Ni. This allows us to explain the ultrafast magnetic response of Ni at all laser fluences-from a small reduction of the magnetization at low laser fluences, to complete quenching at high laser fluences. Both probe methods exhibit the same demagnetization and recovery timescales. The spin system absorbs the energy required to proceed through a magnetic phase transition within 20 fs after the peak of the pump pulse. However, the spectroscopic signatures of demagnetization of the material appear only after ≈200  fs and the subsequent recovery of magnetization on timescales ranging from 500 fs to >70  ps. We also provide evidence of two competing channels with two distinct timescales in the recovery process that suggest the presence of coexisting phases in the material.

Critical behavior within 20 fs drives the out-of-equilibrium laser-induced magnetic phase transition in nickel

It has long been known that ferromagnets undergo a phase transition from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic at the Curie temperature, associated with critical phenomena such as a divergence in the heat capacity. A ferromagnet can also be transiently demagnetized by heating it with an ultrafast laser pulse. However, to date, the connection between out-of-equilibrium and equilibrium phase transitions, or how fast the out-of-equilibrium phase transitions can proceed, was not known. By combining time- and angle-resolved photoemission with time-resolved transverse magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopies, we show that the same critical behavior also governs the ultrafast magnetic phase transition in nickel. This is evidenced by several observations. First, we observe a divergence of the transient heat capacity of the electron spin system preceding material demagnetization. Second, when the electron temperature is transiently driven above the Curie temperature, we observe an extremely rapid change in the material response: The spin system absorbs sufficient energy within the first 20 fs to subsequently proceed through the phase transition, whereas demagnetization and the collapse of the exchange splitting occur on much longer, fluence-independent time scales of ~176 fs. Third, we find that the transient electron temperature alone dictates the magnetic response. Our results are important because they connect the out-of-equilibrium material behavior to the strongly coupled equilibrium behavior and uncover a new time scale in the process of ultrafast demagnetization.

Group Velocity Engineering of Confined Ultrafast Magnons

Quantum confinement permits the existence of multiple terahertz magnon modes in atomically engineered ultrathin magnetic films and multilayers. By means of spin-polarized high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy, we report on the direct experimental detection of all exchange-dominated terahertz confined magnon modes in a 3 ML Co film. We demonstrate that, by tuning the structural and magnetic properties of the Co film, through its epitaxial growth on different surfaces, e.g., Ir(001), Cu(001), and Pt(111), one can achieve entirely different in-plane magnon dispersions, characterized by positive and negative group velocities. Our first-principles calculations show that spin-dependent many-body correlation effects in Co films play an important role in the determination of the energies of confined magnon modes. Our results suggest a pathway towards the engineering of the group velocity of confined ultrafast magnons.

Temperature Dependence of Magnetic Excitations: Terahertz Magnons above the Curie Temperature

When an ordered spin system of a given dimensionality undergoes a second order phase transition, the dependence of the order parameter, i.e., magnetization on temperature, can be well described by thermal excitations of elementary collective spin excitations (magnons). However, the behavior of magnons themselves, as a function of temperature and across the transition temperature T_{C}, is an unknown issue. Utilizing spin-polarized high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, we monitor the high-energy (terahertz) magnons, excited in an ultrathin ferromagnet, as a function of temperature. We show that the magnons' energy and lifetime decrease with temperature. The temperature-induced renormalization of the magnons' energy and lifetime depends on the wave vector. We provide quantitative results on the temperature-induced damping and discuss the possible mechanism, e.g., multimagnon scattering. A careful investigation of physical quantities determining the magnons' propagation indicates that terahertz magnons sustain their propagating character even at temperatures far above T_{C}.

Direct probing of the exchange interaction at buried interfaces

The fundamental interactions between magnetic moments at interfaces have an important impact on the properties of layered magnetic structures. Hence, a direct probing of these interactions is highly desirable for understanding a wide range of phenomena in low-dimensional solids. Here we propose a method for probing the magnetic exchange interaction at buried interfaces using spin-polarized electrons and taking advantage of the collective nature of elementary magnetic excitations (magnons). We demonstrate that, for the case of weak coupling at the interface, the low-energy magnon mode is mainly localized at the interface. Because this mode has the longest lifetime of the modes and has a finite spectral weight across the layers on top, it can be probed by electrons. A comparison of experimental data and first-principles calculations leads to the determination of the interface exchange parameters. This method may help the development of spectroscopy of buried magnetic interfaces.