Pablo Maldonado

Ultrafast magnetization enhancement in metallic multilayers driven by superdiffusive spin current

Uncovering the physical mechanisms that govern ultrafast charge and spin dynamics is crucial for understanding correlated matter as well as the fundamental limits of ultrafast spin-based electronics. Spin dynamics in magnetic materials can be driven by ultrashort light pulses, resulting in a transient drop in magnetization within a few hundred femtoseconds. However, a full understanding of femtosecond spin dynamics remains elusive. Here we spatially separate the spin dynamics using Ni/Ru/Fe magnetic trilayers, where the Ni and Fe layers can be ferro- or antiferromagnetically coupled. By exciting the layers with a laser pulse and probing the magnetization response simultaneously but separately in Ni and Fe, we surprisingly find that optically induced demagnetization of the Ni layer transiently enhances the magnetization of the Fe layer when the two layer magnetizations are initially aligned parallel. Our observations are explained by a laser-generated superdiffusive spin current between the layers.

Terahertz spin current pulses controlled by magnetic heterostructures

1. Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin, Germany. 2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. 3. I. Physikalisches Institut, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. 4. Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fϋr Materialien und Energie, Berlin, Germany. 5. Peter Grünberg Institute and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, Jülich, Germany.In spin-based electronics, information is encoded by the spin state of electron bunches. Processing this information requires the controlled transport of spin angular momentum through a solid, preferably at frequencies reaching the so far unexplored terahertz regime. Here, we demonstrate, by experiment and theory, that the temporal shape of femtosecond spin current bursts can be manipulated by using specifically designed magnetic heterostructures. A laser pulse is used to drive spins from a ferromagnetic iron thin film into a non-magnetic cap layer that has either low (ruthenium) or high (gold) electron mobility. The resulting transient spin current is detected by means of an ultrafast, contactless amperemeter based on the inverse spin Hall effect, which converts the spin flow into a terahertz electromagnetic pulse. We find that the ruthenium cap layer yields a considerably longer spin current pulse because electrons are injected into ruthenium d states, which have a much lower mobility than gold sp states. Thus, spin current pulses and the resulting terahertz transients can be shaped by tailoring magnetic heterostructures, which opens the door to engineering high-speed spintronic devices and, potentially, broadband terahertz emitters.

Ultrafast spin transport as key to femtosecond demagnetization

Irradiating a ferromagnet with a femtosecond laser pulse is known to induce an ultrafast demagnetization within a few hundred femtoseconds. Here we demonstrate that direct laser irradiation is in fact not essential for ultrafast demagnetization, and that electron cascades caused by hot electron currents accomplish it very efficiently. We optically excite a Au/Ni layered structure in which the 30 nm Au capping layer absorbs the incident laser pump pulse and subsequently use the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism technique to probe the femtosecond demagnetization of the adjacent 15 nm Ni layer. A demagnetization effect corresponding to the scenario in which the laser directly excites the Ni film is observed, but with a slight temporal delay. We explain this unexpected observation by means of the demagnetizing effect of a superdiffusive current of non-equilibrium, non-spin-polarized electrons generated in the Au layer.

Observation of topological nodal fermion semimetal phase in ZrSiS

The search for new topological phases of matter is a major new direction in condensed matter physics. Recent experimental realizations of Dirac and Weyl semimetal phases pave the way to look for other exotic phases of matter in real materials. In this paper, the authors present a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of ZrSiS, a potential topological nodal semimetal candidate. Their systematic measurements establish the spinless nodal fermion semimetal phase in ZrSiS, which is supported by their first-principles calculations. This work puts forward the ZrSiS-type material family as a new platform to explore exotic states of quantum matter.

Efficient metallic spintronic emitters of ultrabroadband terahertz radiation

Ultrashort pulses covering the 1–30 THz range are generated from a W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer and originate from photoinduced spin currents, the inverse spin Hall effect and a broadband Fabry–Perot resonance. The resultant peak fields are several 100 kV cm–1.

Tunability of the topological nodal-line semimetal phase in ZrSiX -type materials ( X=S, Se, Te )

The discovery of a topological nodal-line (TNL) semimetal phase in ZrSiS has invigorated the study of other members of this family. Here, we present a comparative electronic structure study of ZrSiX (where X = S, Se, Te) using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles calculations. Our ARPES studies show that the overall electronic structure of ZrSiX materials comprises of the diamond-shaped Fermi pocket, the nearly elliptical-shaped Fermi pocket, and a small electron pocket encircling the zone center (

Generation mechanism of terahertz coherent acoustic phonons in Fe

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Theory of out-of-equilibrium ultrafast relaxation dynamics in metals

) point, the M point, and the X point of the Brillouin zone, respectively. We also observe a small Fermi surface pocket along the M-

Possible Demonstration of a Polaronic Bose-Einstein(-Mott) Condensate in UO2(+x) by Ultrafast THz Spectroscopy and Microwave Dissipation

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Treating the effect of interface reflections on superdiffusive spin transport in multilayer samples (invited)

-M direction in ZrSiTe, which is absent in both ZrSiS and ZrSiSe. Furthermore, our theoretical studies show a transition from nodal-line to nodeless gapped phase by tuning the chalcogenide from S to Te in these material systems. Our findings provide direct evidence for the tunability of the TNL phase in ZrSiX material systems by adjusting the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) strength via the X anion.