Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: The microscopic mechanism of the subpicosecond magnetization dynamics observed in transition metals irradiated by intense optical laser pulses is not yet completely understood. Here, the authors analyze this effect in the case of the frustrated antiferromagnet FeMn within the framework of time-dependent spin-density-functional theory. Detailed spatial and temporal analysis of the first-principles spin dynamics allows an effective fully dynamical nonlocal in space exchange interaction to be introduced and evaluated. The study shows that it is meaningful to distinguish between two types of excitations governing the early dynamics of the antiferromagnetic system. The first type can be described as Stoner-like excitations, while the second type is of a spin-wave nature and is directly related to the ultrafast modification of the effective exchange interaction.
Institutions: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2584428686