Ronny Knut

Near-Room-Temperature Colossal Magnetodielectricity and Multiglass Properties in Partially Disordered La2NiMnO6

We report magnetic, dielectric, and magnetodielectric responses of the pure monoclinic bulk phase of partially disordered La2NiMnO6, exhibiting a spectrum of unusual properties and establish that this compound is an intrinsically multiglass system with a large magnetodielectric coupling (8%-20%) over a wide range of temperatures (150-300 K). Specifically, our results establish a unique way to obtain colossal magnetodielectricity, independent of any striction effects, by engineering the asymmetric hopping contribution to the dielectric constant via the tuning of the relative-spin orientations between neighboring magnetic ions in a transition-metal oxide system. We discuss the role of antisite (Ni-Mn) disorder in emergence of these unusual properties.

Generation of bright phase-matched circularly-polarized extreme ultraviolet high harmonics

Circularly-polarized extreme UV and X-ray radiation provides valuable access to the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of materials. To date, this capability was available only at large-scale X-ray facilities such as synchrotrons. Here we demonstrate the first bright, phase-matched, extreme UV circularly-polarized high harmonics and use this new light source for magnetic circular dichroism measurements at the M-shell absorption edges of Co. We show that phase matching of circularly-polarized harmonics is unique and robust, producing a photon flux comparable to the linearly polarized high harmonic sources that have been used very successfully for ultrafast element-selective magneto-optic experiments. This work thus represents a critical advance that makes possible element-specific imaging and spectroscopy of multiple elements simultaneously in magnetic and other chiral media with very high spatial and temporal resolution, using tabletop-scale setups.

Defect formation in graphene nanosheets by acid treatment: an x-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory study

In-plane defects have been introduced into graphene nanosheets by treatment with hydrochloric acid. Acid treatment induces bond cleavage in the C–C network via electrophilic attack. These resultant vacancy sites will then undergo further reactions with the surrounding ambient to produce C–O and C–H bonds. A σ ∗ resonance at 287 eV in the carbon K-edge x-ray absorption spectra is observed with acid treatment and is assigned to C–O states. Theoretical modelling of a di-vacancy in a graphene bilayer reproduces all essential features of this resonance and in addition predicts a metallic conductivity of states around this vacancy. The possibility of engineering the properties of graphene via the routes explored here is an important step towards establishing strategies for building devices based on this material. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Bright circularly polarized soft x-ray high harmonics for x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Significance The new ability to generate circularly polarized coherent (laser-like) beams of short wavelength high harmonics in a tabletop-scale setup is attracting intense interest worldwide. Although predicted in 1995, this capability was demonstrated experimentally only in 2014. However, all work to date (both theory and experiment) studied circularly polarized harmonics only in the extreme UV (EUV) region of the spectrum at wavelengths >18 nm. In this new work done in a broad international collaboration, we demonstrate the first soft X-ray high harmonics with circular polarization to wavelengths λ < 8 nm and the first tabletop soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements, and also uncover new X-ray light science that will inspire many more studies of circular high-harmonic generation (HHG). We demonstrate, to our knowledge, the first bright circularly polarized high-harmonic beams in the soft X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and use them to implement X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements in a tabletop-scale setup. Using counterrotating circularly polarized laser fields at 1.3 and 0.79 µm, we generate circularly polarized harmonics with photon energies exceeding 160 eV. The harmonic spectra emerge as a sequence of closely spaced pairs of left and right circularly polarized peaks, with energies determined by conservation of energy and spin angular momentum. We explain the single-atom and macroscopic physics by identifying the dominant electron quantum trajectories and optimal phase-matching conditions. The first advanced phase-matched propagation simulations for circularly polarized harmonics reveal the influence of the finite phase-matching temporal window on the spectrum, as well as the unique polarization-shaped attosecond pulse train. Finally, we use, to our knowledge, the first tabletop X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements at the N4,5 absorption edges of Gd to validate the high degree of circularity, brightness, and stability of this light source. These results demonstrate the feasibility of manipulating the polarization, spectrum, and temporal shape of high harmonics in the soft X-ray region by manipulating the driving laser waveform.

Tomographic reconstruction of circularly polarized high-harmonic fields: 3D attosecond metrology

Circularly polarized attosecond pulse trains in the EUV region were reconstructed using 3D attosecond metrology. Bright, circularly polarized, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray high-harmonic beams can now be produced using counter-rotating circularly polarized driving laser fields. Although the resulting circularly polarized harmonics consist of relatively simple pairs of peaks in the spectral domain, in the time domain, the field is predicted to emerge as a complex series of rotating linearly polarized bursts, varying rapidly in amplitude, frequency, and polarization. We extend attosecond metrology techniques to circularly polarized light by simultaneously irradiating a copper surface with circularly polarized high-harmonic and linearly polarized infrared laser fields. The resulting temporal modulation of the photoelectron spectra carries essential phase information about the EUV field. Utilizing the polarization selectivity of the solid surface and by rotating the circularly polarized EUV field in space, we fully retrieve the amplitude and phase of the circularly polarized harmonics, allowing us to reconstruct one of the most complex coherent light fields produced to date.

Detection of microwave phase variation in nanometre-scale magnetic heterostructures

The internal phase profile of electromagnetic radiation determines many functional properties of metal, oxide or semiconductor heterostructures. In magnetic heterostructures, emerging spin electronic phenomena depend strongly upon the phase profile of the magnetic field H at gigahertz frequencies. Here we demonstrate nanometre-scale, layer-resolved detection of electromagnetic phase through the radio frequency magnetic field H(rf) in magnetic heterostructures. Time-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism reveals the local phase of the radio frequency magnetic field acting on individual magnetizations M(i) through the susceptibility as M = χH(rf). An unexpectedly large phase variation, ~40°, is detected across spin-valve trilayers driven at 3 GHz. The results have implications for the identification of novel effects in spintronics and suggest general possibilities for electromagnetic-phase profile measurement in heterostructures.

Helicity-Selective Phase-Matching and Quasi-Phase matching of Circularly Polarized High-Order Harmonics: Towards Chiral Attosecond Pulses

Author(s): Kfir, O; Grychtol, P; Turgut, E; Knut, R; Zusin, D; Fleischer, A; Bordo, E; Fan, T; Popmintchev, D; Popmintchev, T; Kapteyn, H; Murnane, M; Cohen, O | Abstract:

Reactive ZnO/Ti/ZnO interfaces studied by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The chemistry and intermixing at buried interfaces in sputter deposited ZnO/Ti/ZnO thin layers were studied by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The long mean free path of the photoelectrons a ...

Inhomogeneity in Co doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor

Here, we have studied the chemical and magnetic interactions in Co doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor by ab initio density functional calculations. The calculated chemical pair interaction pa ...

Annealing effects on structural and magnetic properties of Co implanted ZnO single crystals

Single crystals of ZnO were implanted with 100 keV-Co ions at room temperature with a fluence of 4.8 x 10(16) cm(-2) and subsequently annealed at different temperatures up to 800 degrees C. The sam ...