title: Spatially resolved ultrafast magnetic dynamics initiated at a complex oxide heterointerface.
abstract: Static strain in complex oxide heterostructures has been extensively used to engineer electronic and magnetic properties at equilibrium. In the same spirit, deformations of the crystal lattice with light may be used to achieve functional control across heterointerfaces dynamically. Here, by exciting large-amplitude infrared-active vibrations in a LaAlO3 substrate we induce magnetic order melting in a NdNiO3 film across a heterointerface. Femtosecond resonant soft X-ray diffraction is used to determine the spatiotemporal evolution of the magnetic disordering. We observe a magnetic melt front that propagates from the substrate interface into the film, at a speed that suggests electronically driven motion. Light control and ultrafast phase front propagation at heterointerfaces may lead to new opportunities in optomagnetism, for example by driving domain wall motion to transport information across suitably designed devices.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Center for Free Electron Laser Science, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Först
authors.affiliation: Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Caviglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantum Matter Physics, Université de Genève, 1211 Genève, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scherwitzl
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Center for Free Electron Laser Science, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mankowsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantum Matter Physics, Université de Genève, 1211 Genève, Switzerland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zubko
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.|Diamond Light Source, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Center for Free Electron Laser Science, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bromberger
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Wilkins
authors.affiliation: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Y-D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: The Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES), Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Linac Coherent Light Source, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Schlotter
authors.affiliation: Linac Coherent Light Source, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Linac Coherent Light Source, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Dakovski
authors.affiliation: Linac Coherent Light Source, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Minitti
authors.affiliation: Linac Coherent Light Source, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.|Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.|Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jaksch
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantum Matter Physics, Université de Genève, 1211 Genève, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Triscone
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Diamond Light Source, Didcot OX11 0DE, UK.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Dhesi
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Center for Free Electron Laser Science, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cavalleri