1. Dynamics of the MnAs α/β-Striped Microstructure and of the Fe Magnetization Reversal in Fe/MnAs/GaAs(001): An Optical-Laser Pump--Free-Electron-Laser Probe Scattering Experiment.
- Author
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Vidal, Franck, Lounis, Lounès, Spezzani, Carlo, Ferrari, Eugenio, Delaunay, Renaud, Ciavardini, Alessandra, Popescu, Horia, Eddrief, Mahmoud, Yunlin Zheng, Capotondi, Flavio, Pedersoli, Emanuele, Svetina, Cristian, Raimondi, Lorenzo, Zangrando, Marco, Ivanov, Rosen, Nikolov, Ivaylo, Demidovich, Alexander, Danailov, Miltcho B., De Ninno, Giovanni, and Allaria, Enrico
- Subjects
IRON ,MAGNETIC properties of metals ,MAGNETIZATION ,GALLIUM arsenide ,MANGANESE ,ULTRASHORT laser pulses - Abstract
It was shown recently that the Fe magnetization reversal in the Fe/MnAs/GaAs(001) epitaxial system, attained by temperature control of the regular stripe pattern of the MnAs α-and β-phases, can also be driven by an ultrashort optical laser pulse. In the present time-resolved scattering experiment, we address the dynamics of the MnAs α-β self-organized stripe pattern induced by a 100 fs optical laser pulse, using as a probe the XUV radiation from the FERMI free-electron laser. We observe a loss in the diffraction intensity from the ordered α-β stripes that occurs at two characteristic timescales in the range of ~10
-12 and ~10-10 . We associate the first intensity drop with ultrafast electron-lattice energy exchange processes within the laser-MnAs interaction volume and the second with thermal diffusion towards the MnAs/GaAs interface. With the support of model calculations, the observed dynamics are interpreted in terms of the formation of a laterally homogeneous MnAs overlayer, the thickness of which evolves in time, correlating the MnAs microstructure dynamics with the Fe magnetization response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2017
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