Optically controlling the competition between spin flips and intersite spin transfer in a Heusler half-metal on sub-100-fs time scales.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37948525.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adi1428 and PMC identifier 10637748.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The direct manipulation of spins via light may provide a path toward ultrafast energy-efficient devices. However, distinguishing the microscopic processes that can occur during ultrafast laser excitation in magnetic alloys is challenging. Here, we study the Heusler compound Co<sub>2</sub>MnGa, a material that exhibits very strong light-induced spin transfers across the entire M-edge. By combining the element specificity of extreme ultraviolet high-harmonic probes with time-dependent density functional theory, we disentangle the competition between three ultrafast light-induced processes that occur in Co<sub>2</sub>MnGa: same-site Co-Co spin transfer, intersite Co-Mn spin transfer, and ultrafast spin flips mediated by spin-orbit coupling. By measuring the dynamic magnetic asymmetry across the entire M-edges of the two magnetic sublattices involved, we uncover the relative dominance of these processes at different probe energy regions and times during the laser pulse. Our combined approach enables a comprehensive microscopic interpretation of laser-induced magnetization dynamics on time scales shorter than 100 femtoseconds.