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We investigate the orthorhombic distortion and the structural dynamics of epitaxial MnAs layers on GaAs(001) using static and time-resolved x-ray diffraction. Laser-induced intensity oscillations of Bragg reflections allow us to identify the optical phonon associated with orthorhombic distortion and to follow its softening along the path towards an undistorted phase of hexagonal symmetry. The frequency of this mode falls in the THz range, in agreement with recent calculations. Incomplete softening suggests that the β-γ transformation deviates from a purely second-order displacive transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the optical properties of arrays of ultrathin cobalt nanowires by means of the Brillouin scattering of light on magnons. We employ the Stokes/anti-Stokes scattering asymmetry to probe the circular polarization of a local electric field induced inside nanowires by linearly polarized light waves. We observe the anomalous polarization conversion of the opposite sign than that in a bulk medium or thick nanowires with a great enhancement of the degree of circular polarization attributed to the unconventional refraction in a nanowire medium. A rigorous simulation of the electric field polarization as a function of the wire diameter and spacing reveals the reversed polarization for a thin sparse wire array, in full quantitative agreement with experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]