title: Engineered materials for all-optical helicity-dependent magnetic switching.
abstract: The possibility of manipulating magnetic systems without applied magnetic fields have attracted growing attention over the past fifteen years. The low-power manipulation of the magnetization, preferably at ultrashort timescales, has become a fundamental challenge with implications for future magnetic information memory and storage technologies. Here we explore the optical manipulation of the magnetization in engineered magnetic materials. We demonstrate that all-optical helicity-dependent switching (AO-HDS) can be observed not only in selected rare earth-transition metal (RE-TM) alloy films but also in a much broader variety of materials, including RE-TM alloys, multilayers and heterostructures. We further show that RE-free Co-Ir-based synthetic ferrimagnetic heterostructures designed to mimic the magnetic properties of RE-TM alloys also exhibit AO-HDS. These results challenge present theories of AO-HDS and provide a pathway to engineering materials for future applications based on all-optical control of magnetic order.
authors: 1] Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA [2] Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 - Université de Lorraine - boulevard des aiguillettes BP 70239, Vandoeuvre cedex F-54506 France.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Mangin
authors: Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Gottwald
authors: 1] Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA [2] Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 - Université de Lorraine - boulevard des aiguillettes BP 70239, Vandoeuvre cedex F-54506 France.
authors: C-H
authors: CH
authors: Lambert
authors: Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS University of Kaiserslautern Erwin Schroedinger Str. 46 Kaiserslautern D-67663 Germany.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Steil
authors: Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Uhlíř
authors: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Pang
authors: Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 - Université de Lorraine - boulevard des aiguillettes BP 70239, Vandoeuvre cedex F-54506 France.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Hehn
authors: Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS University of Kaiserslautern Erwin Schroedinger Str. 46 Kaiserslautern D-67663 Germany.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Alebrand
authors: Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS University of Kaiserslautern Erwin Schroedinger Str. 46 Kaiserslautern D-67663 Germany.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Cinchetti
authors: 1] Institut Jean Lamour, UMR CNRS 7198 - Université de Lorraine - boulevard des aiguillettes BP 70239, Vandoeuvre cedex F-54506 France [2] Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS UMR 8502 Orsay 91405 France.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Malinowski
authors: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Fainman
authors: Department of Physics and Research Center OPTIMAS University of Kaiserslautern Erwin Schroedinger Str. 46 Kaiserslautern D-67663 Germany.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Aeschlimann
authors: 1] Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA [2] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0401 USA.
authors: E E
authors: EE
authors: Fullerton