All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures

C-H Lambert; S Mangin; B S D Ch S Varaprasad; Y K Takahashi; M Hehn; M Cinchetti; G Malinowski; K Hono; Y Fainman; M Aeschlimann; E E Fullerton

doi:10.1126/science.1253493

All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures

Science. 2014 Sep 12;345(6202):1337-40. doi: 10.1126/science.1253493. Epub 2014 Aug 21.

Authors

C-H Lambert¹, S Mangin², B S D Ch S Varaprasad³, Y K Takahashi³, M Hehn⁴, M Cinchetti⁵, G Malinowski⁴, K Hono³, Y Fainman⁶, M Aeschlimann⁵, E E Fullerton⁷

Affiliations

¹ Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0401, USA. Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198-Université de Lorraine-BP 70239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre, France.
² Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0401, USA. Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198-Université de Lorraine-BP 70239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre, France. [email protected] [email protected].
³ Magnetic Materials Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan.
⁴ Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198-Université de Lorraine-BP 70239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre, France.
⁵ Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin Schroedinger Strasse 46, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
⁶ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0401, USA.
⁷ Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0401, USA. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0401, USA. [email protected] [email protected].

PMID: 25147280
DOI: 10.1126/science.1253493

Abstract

The interplay of light and magnetism allowed light to be used as a probe of magnetic materials. Now the focus has shifted to use polarized light to alter or manipulate magnetism. Here, we demonstrate optical control of ferromagnetic materials ranging from magnetic thin films to multilayers and even granular films being explored for ultra-high-density magnetic recording. Our finding shows that optical control of magnetic materials is a much more general phenomenon than previously assumed and may have a major impact on data memory and storage industries through the integration of optical control of ferromagnetic bits.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.