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The ultrafast Einstein–de Haas effect

Author

Listed:
  • C. Dornes

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Y. Acremann

    (ETH Zurich)

  • M. Savoini

    (ETH Zurich)

  • M. Kubli

    (ETH Zurich)

  • M. J. Neugebauer

    (ETH Zurich)

  • E. Abreu

    (ETH Zurich)

  • L. Huber

    (ETH Zurich)

  • G. Lantz

    (ETH Zurich)

  • C. A. F. Vaz

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • H. Lemke

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • E. M. Bothschafter

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • M. Porer

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • V. Esposito

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • L. Rettig

    (Paul Scherrer Institute
    Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society)

  • M. Buzzi

    (Paul Scherrer Institute
    Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter)

  • A. Alberca

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • Y. W. Windsor

    (Paul Scherrer Institute
    Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society)

  • P. Beaud

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • U. Staub

    (Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • Diling Zhu

    (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

  • Sanghoon Song

    (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

  • J. M. Glownia

    (SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

  • S. L. Johnson

    (ETH Zurich
    Paul Scherrer Institute)

Abstract

The Einstein-de Haas effect was originally observed in a landmark experiment1 demonstrating that the angular momentum associated with aligned electron spins in a ferromagnet can be converted to mechanical angular momentum by reversing the direction of magnetization using an external magnetic field. A related problem concerns the timescale of this angular momentum transfer. Experiments have established that intense photoexcitation in several metallic ferromagnets leads to a drop in magnetization on a timescale shorter than 100 femtoseconds—a phenomenon called ultrafast demagnetization2–4. Although the microscopic mechanism for this process has been hotly debated, the key question of where the angular momentum goes on these femtosecond timescales remains unanswered. Here we use femtosecond time-resolved X-ray diffraction to show that most of the angular momentum lost from the spin system upon laser-induced demagnetization of ferromagnetic iron is transferred to the lattice on sub-picosecond timescales, launching a transverse strain wave that propagates from the surface into the bulk. By fitting a simple model of the X-ray data to simulations and optical data, we estimate that the angular momentum transfer occurs on a timescale of 200 femtoseconds and corresponds to 80 per cent of the angular momentum that is lost from the spin system. Our results show that interaction with the lattice has an essential role in the process of ultrafast demagnetization in this system.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Dornes & Y. Acremann & M. Savoini & M. Kubli & M. J. Neugebauer & E. Abreu & L. Huber & G. Lantz & C. A. F. Vaz & H. Lemke & E. M. Bothschafter & M. Porer & V. Esposito & L. Rettig & M. Buzzi & A. , 2019. "The ultrafast Einstein–de Haas effect," Nature, Nature, vol. 565(7738), pages 209-212, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:565:y:2019:i:7738:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0822-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0822-7
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Petros Andreas Pantazopoulos & Johannes Feist & Francisco J. García-Vidal & Akashdeep Kamra, 2024. "Unconventional magnetism mediated by spin-phonon-photon coupling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Hiroki Ueda & Roman Mankowsky & Eugenio Paris & Mathias Sander & Yunpei Deng & Biaolong Liu & Ludmila Leroy & Abhishek Nag & Elizabeth Skoropata & Chennan Wang & Victor Ukleev & Gérard Sylvester Perre, 2023. "Non-equilibrium dynamics of spin-lattice coupling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Fumiya Sekiguchi & Kestutis Budzinauskas & Prashant Padmanabhan & Rolf B. Versteeg & Vladimir Tsurkan & István Kézsmárki & Francesco Foggetti & Sergey Artyukhin & Paul H. M. Loosdrecht, 2022. "Slowdown of photoexcited spin dynamics in the non-collinear spin-ordered phases in skyrmion host GaV4S8," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Kyuhwe Kang & Hiroki Omura & Daniel Yesudas & OukJae Lee & Kyung-Jin Lee & Hyun-Woo Lee & Tomoyasu Taniyama & Gyung-Min Choi, 2023. "Spin current driven by ultrafast magnetization of FeRh," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Chenhang Xu & Cheng Jin & Zijing Chen & Qi Lu & Yun Cheng & Bo Zhang & Fengfeng Qi & Jiajun Chen & Xunqing Yin & Guohua Wang & Dao Xiang & Dong Qian, 2023. "Transient dynamics of the phase transition in VO2 revealed by mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.

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