M. A. Kozhaev

Photonic crystals with plasmonic patterns: novel type of the heterostructures for enhanced magneto-optical activity

A multilayer structure consisting of a magnetophotonic crystal with a rare-earth iron garnet microresonator layer and plasmonic grating deposited on it was fabricated and studied in order to combine functionalities of photonic and plasmonic crystals. The plasmonic pattern allows excitation of the hybrid plasmonic-waveguide modes localized in dielectric Bragg mirrors of the magnetophotonic crystal or waveguide modes inside its microresonator layer. These modes give rise to the additional resonances in the optical spectra of the structure and to the enhancement of the magneto-optical effects. The Faraday effect increases by about 50% at the microresonator modes while the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect demonstrates pronounced peculiarities at both hybrid waveguide modes and microresonator modes and increases by several times with respect to the case of the bare magnetophotonic crystal without the metal grating.

Generation of spin waves by a train of fs-laser pulses: a novel approach for tuning magnon wavelength

Currently spin waves are considered for computation and data processing as an alternative to charge currents. Generation of spin waves by ultrashort laser pulses provides several important advances with respect to conventional approaches using microwaves. In particular, focused laser spot works as a point source for spin waves and allows for directional control of spin waves and switching between their different types. For further progress in this direction it is important to manipulate with the spectrum of the optically generated spin waves. Here we tackle this problem by launching spin waves by a sequence of femtosecond laser pulses with pulse interval much shorter than the relaxation time of the magnetization oscillations. This leads to the cumulative phenomenon and allows us to generate magnons in a specific narrow range of wavenumbers. The wavelength of spin waves can be tuned from 15 μm to hundreds of microns by sweeping the external magnetic field by only 10 Oe or by slight variation of the pulse repetition rate. Our findings expand the capabilities of the optical spin pump-probe technique and provide a new method for the spin wave generation and control.

Optical excitation of spin waves in epitaxial iron garnet films: MSSW vs BVMSW.

In most of the previous studies of the spin wave optical generation in magnetic dielectrics, the backward volume spin waves were excited. Here we modified the parameters of the circularly polarized optical pump beams emitted by femtosecond laser to reveal surface spin waves in bismuth iron garnet thin film. Beams that are larger than 10 μm in diameter generate both surface and volume spin waves with only one spectral peak near the ferromagnetic resonance. On the contrary, narrower beams excite predominantly surface spin waves of higher frequency, providing an additional peak in the spin wave spectrum. Thus different interference patterns of the magnetization dynamics are achievable. This may significantly broaden the capabilities of spin wave based devices.

Local probing of magnetic films by optical excitation of magnetostatic waves

Excitation of volume and surface magnetostatic spin waves in ferrite garnet films by circularly polarized laser pulses utilizing to the inverse magnetooptical Faraday effect has been studied experimentally. The region of excitation of the magnetostatic spin waves is determined by the diameter of the laser beam (∼10 μm). At the same time, the characteristic propagation length of the modes is 30 μm. A method of finding the local characteristics of a magnetic film, in particular, the cubic and uniaxial anisotropy constants, based on the analysis of the azimuthal-angle dependence of the spectrum of the magnetostatic spin waves has been proposed.

Peculiarities of the inverse Faraday effect induced in iron garnet films by femtosecond laser pulses

The inverse Faraday effect in iron garnet films subjected to femtosecond laser pulses is experimentally investigated. It is found that the magnitude of the observed effect depends nonlinearly on the energy of the optical pump pulses, which is in contradiction with the notion that the inverse Faraday effect is linear with respect to the pump energy. Thus, for pump pulses with a central wavelength of 650 nm and an energy density of 1 mJ/cm2, the deviation from a linear dependence is as large as 50%. Analysis of the experimental data demonstrates that the observed behavior is explained by the fact that the optically induced normal component of the magnetization is determined, apart from the field resulting from the inverse Faraday effect, by a decrease in the magnitude of the precessing magnetization under the influence of the femtosecond electromagnetic field.

Giant peak of the Inverse Faraday effect in the band gap of magnetophotonic microcavity

Optical impact on the spin system in a magnetically ordered medium provides a unique possibility for local manipulation of magnetization at subpicosecond time scales. One of the mechanisms of the optical manipulation is related to the inverse Faraday effect (IFE). Usually the IFE is observed in crystals and magnetic films on a substrate. Here we demonstrate the IFE induced by fs-laser pulses in the magnetic film inside the magnetophotonic microcavity. Spectral dependence of the IFE on the laser pulse wavelength in the band gap of the magnetophotonic microcavity has a sharp peak leading to a significant enhancement of the IFE. This phenomenon is explained by strong confinement of the electromagnetic energy within the magnetic film. Calculated near field distribution of the IFE effective magnetic field indicates its subwavelength localization within 30 nm along the film thickness. These excited volumes can be shifted along the sample depth via e.g. changing frequency of the laser pulses. The obtained results open a way for ultrafast optical control of magnetization at subwavelength scales.

Magnetization dynamics in epitaxial films induced by femtosecond optical pulses near the absorption edge

Peculiarities of the magnetization dynamics induced in iron garnet films by laser pulses with a frequency detuning near the absorption edge have been studied experimentally. It has been found that the dependence of the observed signal amplitude on the pumping energy becomes nonmonotonic with an increase in the pumping frequency. At the same time, the pumping energy corresponding to the maximum amplitude of the signal and this maximum signal amplitude decrease. Moreover, the signal amplitude starts to decrease with an increase in the pumping energy at frequencies within the absorption band. The observed phenomena are possibly caused by generation of magnetostatic spin waves and the effect of ultrafast optically induced demagnetization.

TMOKE as efficient tool for the magneto-optic analysis of ultra-thin magnetic films

Ultra-thin magnetic dielectric films are of prime importance due to their applications for nanophotonics and spintronics. Here, we propose an efficient method for the magneto-optical investigation of ultra-thin magnetic films which allows one to access their state of magnetization and magneto-optical properties. It is based on the surface-plasmon-polariton-assisted transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect (TMOKE). In our experiments, sub-100 nm-thick bismuth-substituted lutetium iron-garnet films covered with a plasmonic gold grating have been analyzed. The excitation of surface plasmon-polaritons provides resonance enhancement of TMOKE up to 0.04 and makes it easily detectable in the experiment. For films thicker than 40 nm, the TMOKE marginally depends on the film thickness. A further decrease in the film thickness diminishes TMOKE since for such thicknesses the surface plasmon-polariton field partly penetrates inside the non-magnetic substrate. Nevertheless, the TMOKE remains measurable even for few-nm-thick films, which makes this technique unique for the magneto-optical study of ultra-thin films. Particularly, the proposed method reveals that the off-diagonal components of the magnetic film permittivity tensor grow slightly with the reduction of the film thickness.

Optical excitation of magnetization dynamics in magnetic optical microcavity

Optical generation of the magnetostatic spin waves (MSWs) due to the inverse Faraday effect or photomagnetic phenomena is of prime importance for magnonics and spintronics.

The magnetic field sensor based on the longitudinal magnetophotonic effect in a magnetoplasmonic crystal

Nowadays creation of high-sensitive magnetic sensors is of great interest for many applications.