title: Many-Body Theory of Ultrafast Demagnetization and Angular Momentum Transfer in Ferromagnetic Transition Metals.
abstract: Exact calculated time evolutions in the framework of a many-electron model of itinerant magnetism provide new insights into the laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization observed in ferromagnetic (FM) transition metal thin films. The interplay between local spin-orbit interactions and interatomic hopping is shown to be at the origin of the observed postexcitation breakdown of FM correlations between highly stable local magnetic moments. The mechanism behind spin- and angular-momentum transfer is revealed from a microscopic perspective by rigorously complying with all fundamental conservation laws. An energy-resolved analysis of the time evolution shows that the efficiency of the demagnetization process reaches almost 100% in the excited states.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Kassel, Heinrich-Plett-Straße 40, 34132 Kassel, Germany.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Töws
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Kassel, Heinrich-Plett-Straße 40, 34132 Kassel, Germany.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Pastor