title: Ultrafast time-resolved magneto-optical imaging of all-optical switching in GdFeCo with femtosecond time-resolution and a μm spatial-resolution.
abstract: We developed an ultrafast time-resolved magneto-optical (MO) imaging system with several millidegree resolution of light polarization angle, 100 fs time-resolution, and a micrometer spatial resolution. A CCD camera with about 10(6) pixels is used for detection and MO images with an absolute angle of the light polarization are acquired by the rotating analyzer method. By optimizing the analysis procedure with a least square method and the help of graphical processor units, this novel system significantly improves the speed for MO imaging, allowing to obtain a MO map of a sample within 15 s. To demonstrate the strength of the technique, we applied the method in a pump-and-probe experiment of all-optical switching in a GdFeCo sample in which we were able to detect temporal evolution of the MO images with sub-picosecond resolution.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Khorsand
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Savoini
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koene
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bossini
authors.affiliation: College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 7-24-1 Funabashi, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.affiliation: College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 7-24-1 Funabashi, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology Research Laboratories, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, 1-10-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology Research Laboratories, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, 1-10-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 157-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoshima
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kimel
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kirilyuk
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Molecules and Materials, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Th
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rasing