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Laser-induced ultrafast spin reorientation in the antiferromagnet TmFeO3

Nature volume 429, pages 850–853 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

All magnetically ordered materials can be divided into two primary classes: ferromagnets1,2 and antiferromagnets3. Since ancient times, ferromagnetic materials have found vast application areas4, from the compass to computer storage and more recently to magnetic random access memory and spintronics5. In contrast, antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials, though representing the overwhelming majority of magnetically ordered materials, for a long time were of academic interest only. The fundamental difference between the two types of magnetic materials manifests itself in their reaction to an external magnetic field—in an antiferromagnet, the exchange interaction leads to zero net magnetization. The related absence of a net angular momentum should result in orders of magnitude faster AFM spin dynamics6,7. Here we show that, using a short laser pulse, the spins of the antiferromagnet TmFeO3 can indeed be manipulated on a timescale of a few picoseconds, in contrast to the hundreds of picoseconds in a ferromagnet8,9,10,11,12. Because the ultrafast dynamics of spins in antiferromagnets is a key issue for exchange-biased devices13, this finding can expand the now limited set of applications for AFM materials.

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Figure 1: Linear optical birefringence in TmFeO3 as a function of temperature.
Figure 2: Excitation and relaxation of the AFM moment measured via changes in the magnetic birefringence.
Figure 3: Precessional motion of spins in AFM and ferromagnetic compounds and its possible application.
Figure 4: Temperature dependencies of the amplitudes and frequencies of the observed oscillations, as well as the amplitude of the spin reorientation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the European IST network SPINOSA, the RTN network DYNAMICS, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NSRIM Institute, University of Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, Nijmegen, 6525 ED, The Netherlands

    A. V. Kimel, A. Kirilyuk, A. Tsvetkov & Th. Rasing

  2. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, St.-Petersburg, 194021, Russia

    R. V. Pisarev

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  1. A. V. Kimel
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Correspondence to Th. Rasing.

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Kimel, A., Kirilyuk, A., Tsvetkov, A. et al. Laser-induced ultrafast spin reorientation in the antiferromagnet TmFeO3. Nature 429, 850–853 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02659

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