Capturing the Magnetic and Structural Phase Transition of Ferh using Extreme Ultraviolet Light

POSTER

Abstract

The temperature dependent transition from the anti-ferromagnetic to the ferromagnetic phase in FeRh is accompanied by a modification of its crystal lattice. The interplay between the magnetic and the structural transition is a matter of strong debate. It is important to better understand the mechanism(s) of the transition since it can be induced by femtosecond laser pulses and, unlike slower (nanosecond) magnetic phase transitions, does not seem to be limited by heat transfer. In this work, we use extreme ultraviolet light generated by a tabletop high harmonics source to perform element-selective investigations of the temperature-dependent magneto-optical response of a thin film FeRh sample. We study the optically induced phase transition using two ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy approaches: by monitoring the time-resolved transversal magneto-optical Kerr effect (T-MOKE) and the transient change in reflectivity.

*PF acknowledges support from BES MSD DOE \# DE-AC02-05-CH11231 and LFRIR program (\# 2012K1A4A3053565) through NRF Korea funded by MEST, and JILA from DOE \# DE-FG02-09ER4665.

Authors

  • Dmitriy Zusin

    • JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
    • JILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder and NIST

  • Patrick Grychtol

    • JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
    • JILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder and NIST
    • JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA

  • Christian Gentry

    • JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
    • JILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder and NIST

  • Margaret Murnane

    • JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309

  • Henry Kapteyn

    • JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309

  • Sophie Canton

    • Max-Lab, Lund University, SE-223 63 Lund, Sweden

  • Ronny Knut

    • Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305

  • Justin Shaw

    • Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305

  • Hans Nembach

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO
    • Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305

  • Thomas Silva

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO
    • Electromagnetics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305

  • Alejandro Ceballos

    • Univ of California - Berkeley
    • University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

  • Catherine Bordel

    • UC Berkeley Physics Department
    • Univ of California - Berkeley
    • University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

  • Peter Fischer

    • CXRO, LBNL and Dept. Phys., UC Santa Cruz
    • University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
    • Advanced Light Source; Univeristy of California, Santa Cruz
    • Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab

  • Frances Hellman

    • UC Berkeley Physics Department
    • Univ of California - Berkeley
    • University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
    • UC Berkeley Physics and Materials Sciences and Engineering Departments, and Materials Sciences Division, LBNL