1. Laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy reduction in a Co88Tb12 thin film with stripe domains
- Author
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Emanuele Pedersoli, Xuan Liu, Michel Hehn, Jan Lüning, Valentin Chardonnet, Michael Schneider, Benoît Mahieu, David Weder, Emmanuelle Jal, C. von Korff Schmising, A. Merhe, C. M. Günther, Flavio Capotondi, Boris Vodungbo, Ivaylo Nikolov, Marcel Hennes, Gregory Malinowski, and Daniel Lacour
- Subjects
Materials science ,Magnetic structure ,Condensed matter physics ,Magnetometer ,Scattering ,Demagnetizing field ,02 engineering and technology ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,01 natural sciences ,7. Clean energy ,law.invention ,Amorphous solid ,Condensed Matter::Materials Science ,Magnetic anisotropy ,law ,Lattice (order) ,0103 physical sciences ,Thin film ,010306 general physics ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
We use time-resolved x-ray resonant magnetic scattering (TR-XRMS) at the Co ${M}_{2,3}$ and Tb ${O}_{1}$ edges to study ultrafast demagnetization in an amorphous ${\mathrm{Co}}_{88}{\mathrm{Tb}}_{12}$ alloy with stripe domains. Combining the femtosecond temporal with nanometer spatial resolution of our experiment, we demonstrate that the equilibrium spin texture of the thin film remains unaltered by the optical pump pulse on ultrashort timescales ($l1\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ps}$). However, after $\ensuremath{\simeq}4$ ps, we observe the onset of a significant domain wall broadening, which we attribute to a reduction of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of the system, due to energy transfer to the lattice. Static temperature-dependent magnetometry measurements combined with analytical modeling of the magnetic structure of the thin film corroborate this interpretation.
- Published
- 2020