title: Structural and magnetic dynamics of a laser induced phase transition in FeRh.
abstract: We use time-resolved x-ray diffraction and magneto-optical Kerr effect to study the laser-induced antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition in FeRh. The structural response is given by the nucleation of independent ferromagnetic domains (τ(1)~30 ps). This is significantly faster than the magnetic response (τ(2)~60 ps) given by the subsequent domain realignment. X-ray diffraction shows that the two phases coexist on short time scales and that the phase transition is limited by the speed of sound. A nucleation model describing both the structural and magnetic dynamics is presented.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland. simon.mariager@psi.ch
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Mariager
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pressacco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ingold
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caviezel
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Möhr-Vorobeva
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beaud
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Milne
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moyerman
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Fullerton
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feidenhans'l
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quitmann