Poster Session #2: UC Ballroom
Measuring the influence of spin-orbit coupling on the ultrafast magnetic response
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Nate McCrady
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Physics & Astronomy
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The invention of ultrafast lasers, which emit pulses of light that are as short as a few femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds), has led to significant discoveries in the properties of materials, including the ultrafast reaction of ferromagnetic metals. When ultrafast laser pulses interact with a ferromagnetic material, it has been shown that the magnetization of the material can be influenced on the femtosecond (fs) time scale. This is interesting because changing the orientation of the magnetic moment of a ferromagnetic material has been classically determined to occur on the much longer picosecond (10^-12 seconds) time scale. The physical mechanisms responsible for this ultrafast response are not well understood, but current research suggests that it likely occurs because of an interaction between the laser pulse and the atomic spin system in a process called spin-orbit coupling. The goal of this research is to add to the fundamental understanding of this effect by directly measuring the influence of the spin-orbit coupling strength on the ultrafast magnetic response. This will be accomplished by measuring a series of ferromagnetic nickel-iron alloys with an ultrafast laser that has pulse durations of about 60 femtoseconds. The samples have varying ratios of nickel and iron, which varies the spin-orbit coupling strength without significantly changing other properties among the samples. With these methods, the ultrafast magnetic response from a NiFe sample was observed. This research could provide fundamental knowledge on the ultrafast magnetic response, and could have future applications for ultrafast data storage.
Measuring the influence of spin-orbit coupling on the ultrafast magnetic response
UC Ballroom
The invention of ultrafast lasers, which emit pulses of light that are as short as a few femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds), has led to significant discoveries in the properties of materials, including the ultrafast reaction of ferromagnetic metals. When ultrafast laser pulses interact with a ferromagnetic material, it has been shown that the magnetization of the material can be influenced on the femtosecond (fs) time scale. This is interesting because changing the orientation of the magnetic moment of a ferromagnetic material has been classically determined to occur on the much longer picosecond (10^-12 seconds) time scale. The physical mechanisms responsible for this ultrafast response are not well understood, but current research suggests that it likely occurs because of an interaction between the laser pulse and the atomic spin system in a process called spin-orbit coupling. The goal of this research is to add to the fundamental understanding of this effect by directly measuring the influence of the spin-orbit coupling strength on the ultrafast magnetic response. This will be accomplished by measuring a series of ferromagnetic nickel-iron alloys with an ultrafast laser that has pulse durations of about 60 femtoseconds. The samples have varying ratios of nickel and iron, which varies the spin-orbit coupling strength without significantly changing other properties among the samples. With these methods, the ultrafast magnetic response from a NiFe sample was observed. This research could provide fundamental knowledge on the ultrafast magnetic response, and could have future applications for ultrafast data storage.