Ultrafast Optical Control of Magnetic Interactions in Carrier-Density-Controlled Ferromagnetic Semiconductors

Investigation of the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with magnetically ordered materials has become a fascinating research topic in modern magnetism. Especially, the control of magnetic order by sub-ps laser pulses has become a fundamentally important topic with a high potential for future sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Masakazu Matsubara
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-03-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/5/948
Description
Summary:Investigation of the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with magnetically ordered materials has become a fascinating research topic in modern magnetism. Especially, the control of magnetic order by sub-ps laser pulses has become a fundamentally important topic with a high potential for future spintronics applications. This paper will review the recent success in optically controlling the magnetic interactions in carrier-density-controlled ferromagnetic semiconductor EuO doped with Gd ions. When the Gd concentration is low, the magnitude of the magnetic interaction is enhanced by the irradiation of ultrashort laser pulses, whereas it is attenuated when the Gd concentration is high. In ferromagnetic Eu1−xGdxO, we thereby demonstrate the strengthening as well as the weakening of the magnetic interaction by 10% and within 3 ps by optically controlling the magnetic exchange interaction. This principle—ultrafast optical control of magnetic interaction—can be applied to future ultrafast opto-spintronics.
ISSN:2076-3417