Influence of magnetic domain walls on all-optical magnetic toggle switching in a ferrimagnetic GdFe film

Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

article

Rahil Hosseinifar¹  Evangelos Golias¹  Ivar Kumberg¹  Quentin Guillet¹  Karl Frischmuth¹  Sangeeta Thakur¹  Mario Fix²  Manfred Albrecht²  Florian Kronast³  Wolfgang Kuch¹ 

[1] Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Experimentalphysik;Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Universitätsstraße 1;Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie

关键词: all-optical magnetic switching;    GdFe;    laser-induced domain-wall motion;    magnetic domain imaging;    photoemission electron microscopy;   

DOI  :  10.3762/bjnano.13.5

学科分类：环境监测和分析

来源: Beilstein - Institut zur Foerderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften

【 摘 要 】

We present a microscopic magnetic domain imaging study of single-shot all-optical magnetic toggle switching of a ferrimagnetic Gd26Fe74 film with out-of-plane easy axis of magnetization by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoelectron emission microscopy. Individual linearly polarized laser pulses of 800 nm wavelength and 100 fs duration above a certain threshold fluence reverse the sample magnetization, independent of the magnetization direction, the so-called toggle switching. Local deviations from this deterministic behavior close to magnetic domain walls are studied in detail. Reasons for nondeterministic toggle switching are related to extrinsic effects, caused by pulse-to-pulse variations of the exciting laser system, and to intrinsic effects related to the magnetic domain structure of the sample. The latter are, on the one hand, caused by magnetic domain wall elasticity, which leads to a reduction of the domain-wall length at features with sharp tips. These features appear after the optical switching at positions where the line of constant threshold fluence in the Gaussian footprint of the laser pulse comes close to an already existing domain wall. On the other hand, we identify the presence of laser-induced domain-wall motion in the toggle-switching event as a further cause for local deviations from purely deterministic toggle switching.

【 授权许可】

CC BY