title: Magnetization and microstructure dynamics in Fe/MnAs/GaAs(001): Fe magnetization reversal by a femtosecond laser pulse.
abstract: Thin film magnetization reversal without applying external fields is an attractive perspective for applications in sensors and devices. One way to accomplish it is by fine-tuning the microstructure of a magnetic substrate via temperature control, as in the case of a thin Fe layer deposited on a MnAs/GaAs(001) template. This work reports a time-resolved resonant scattering study exploring the magnetic and structural properties of the Fe/MnAs system, using a 100 fs optical laser pulse to trigger local temperature variations and a 100 fs x-ray free-electron laser pulse to probe the induced magnetic and structural dynamics. The experiment provides direct evidence that a single optical laser pulse can reverse the Fe magnetization locally. It reveals that the time scale of the magnetization reversal is slower than that of the MnAs structural transformations triggered by the optical pulse, which take place after a few picoseconds already.
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spezzani
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Allaria
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7588, INSP, F-75005 Paris, France and CNRS, UMR 7588, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.affiliation: CNR-ISM, via Salaria km 29, 300-00016 Monterotondo Scalo (RM), Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciavardini
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7614, LCPMR, F-75005 Paris, France and CNRS, UMR 7614, LCPMR, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delaunay
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capotondi
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pedersoli
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy and CNR-ISM, via Salaria km 29, 300-00016 Monterotondo Scalo (RM), Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coreno
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy and Graduate School of Nanotechnology, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Svetina
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Raimondi
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zangrando
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nikolov
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demidovich
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Danailov
authors.affiliation: Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, France.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7588, INSP, F-75005 Paris, France and CNRS, UMR 7588, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eddrief
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy and Laboratory of Quantum Optics, University of Nova Gorica, 5001 Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Ninno
authors.affiliation: ELETTRA-Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiskinova
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7588, INSP, F-75005 Paris, France and CNRS, UMR 7588, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, F-75005 Paris, France and Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sacchi