Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 10: Magnetization Dynamics I

MA 10.6: Talk

Monday, March 14, 2011, 16:00–16:15, HSZ 403

Insights on all-optical magnetization switching by tailoring optical excitation parameters — •Sabine Alebrand, Daniel Steil, Alexander Haßdenteufel, Mirko Cinchetti, and Martin Aeschlimann — Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, 67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany

In 2007 Stanciu et al. [1] discovered that it is possible to switch the magnetization in GdFeCo by using circularly polarized laser pulses. A phenomenological description of this effect based on the inverse Faraday Effect (IFE) was presented by Vahaplar et al. in 2009 [2]. Nevertheless until now the microscopic processes leading to all-optical switching are still unclear.
In this talk we focus on the investigation of the all-optical switching behaviour by changing the properties of the exciting laser pulse. We present wavelength- and pulse duration-dependent studies and demonstrate that all-optical switching is possible for all wavelengths in the visible range as well as for pulse durations up to almost 4 ps. In addition we show that the threshold fluence needed for all-optical switching is nearly independent on the pulse duration. We discuss our results in the context of the existing model based on the IFE and draw some conclusions with respect to possible microscopic mechanisms behind all-optical switching. This work was supportet by the EU project UltraMagnetron (NMP3-SL-2008-214469).
Stanciu et al. PRL 99, 047601 (2007)
Vahaplar et al. PRL 103, 117201 (2009)