Dresden 2017 – scientific programme
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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 14: Magnetization / Demagnetization Dynamics II
MA 14.4: Talk
Monday, March 20, 2017, 15:45–16:00, HSZ 401
Separation of optical and magnetic response in Au films excited by circularly polarized laser pulses — •D. Schummer1, S. Sakshath1, M. Barkowski1, D. Steil2, F. Ganss3, M. Albrecht3, B. Stadtmüller1, S. Mathias2, and M. Aeschlimann1 — 1TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schroedinger-Strasse 46, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany — 2University of Göttingen, Friedrich Hund Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany — 3University of Augsburg, Universitätsstraße 1 Nord, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
Circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses have been successfully used to induce intriguing phenomena such as all-optical switching (AOS) of magnetization. In particular, the symmetry breaking effect which dictates the orientation of the magnetization reversal after optical excitation is still heavily debated. One possible explanation is based on the inverse Faraday effect which can induce a transient magnetization in the material by the circularity of the laser light. This phenomena was also predicted for metals with strong spin-orbit coupling such as Au or Pt [1]. In this context, we have studied the sub-picosecond magnetic response of Au to a circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulse. As optical probe, we use the time resolved complex magneto-optical Kerr effect. This approach allows us to separate different contributions of the transient magneto-optical response and to identify a transient magnetic state induced by circularly polarized femtosecond laser excitation.
Reference: [1] Berritta et al, Phys. Rev. Lett.117, 137203 (2016)