Two types of all-optical magnetization switching mechanisms using femtosecond laser pulses

Magnetization manipulation in the absence of an external magnetic field is a topic of great interest, since many novel physical phenomena need to be understood and promising new applications can be imagined. Cutting-edge experiments have shown the capability to switch the magnetization of magnetic thin films using ultrashort polarized laser pulses. In 2007, it was first observed that the magnetization switching for GdFeCo alloy thin films was helicity-dependent and later helicity-independent switching was also demonstrated on the same material. Recently, all-optical switching has also been discovered for a much larger variety of magnetic materials (ferrimagnetic, ferromagnetic films and granular nanostructures), where the theoretical models explaining the switching in GdFeCo films do not appear to apply, thus questioning the uniqueness of the microscopic origin of all-optical switching. Here, we show that two different all-optical switching mechanisms can be distinguished; a "single pulse" switching and a "cumulative" switching process whose rich microscopic origin is discussed. We demonstrate that the latter is a two-step mechanism; a heat-driven demagnetization followed by a helicity-dependent remagnetization. This is achieved by an all-electrical and time-dependent investigation of the all-optical switching in ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic Hall crosses via the anomalous Hall effect, enabling to probe the all-optical switching on different timescales.Comment: 1 page, LaTeX; classified reference number

Magnetism and unconventional superconductivity in Cen_nMm_mIn3n+2m_{3n+2m} heavy-fermion crystals

We review magnetic, superconducting and non-Fermi-liquid properties of the structurally layered heavy-fermion compounds Ce$_n$M$_m$In$_{3n+2m}$ (M=Co, Rh, Ir). These properties suggest d-wave superconductivity and proximity to an antiferromagetic quantum-critical point.Comment: submitted 23rd International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT-23), Aug. 200

c-axis magnetotransport in CeCoIn5_{5}

We present the results of out-of-plane electrical transport measurements on the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn$_{5}$ at temperatures from 40 mK to 400 K and in magnetic field up to 9 T. For $T <$ 10 K transport measurements show that the zero-field resistivity $\rho_{c}$ changes linearly with temperature and extrapolates nearly to zero at 0 K, indicative of non-Fermi-liquid (nFL) behavior associated with a quantum critical point (QCP). The longitudinal magnetoresistance (LMR) of CeCoIn$_{5}$ for fields applied parallel to the c-axis is negative and scales as $B/(T+T^{*})$ between 50 and 100 K, revealing the presence of a single-impurity Kondo energy scale $T^{*} \sim 2$ K. Beginning at 16 K a small positive LMR feature is evident for fields less than 3 tesla that grows in magnitude with decreasing temperature. For higher fields the LMR is negative and increases in magnitude with decreasing temperature. This sizable negative magnetoresistance scales as $B{^2}/T$ from 2.6 K to roughly 8 K, and it arises from an extrapolated residual resistivity that becomes negative and grows quadratically with field in the nFL temperature regime. Applying a magnetic field along the c-axis with B $>$ B$_{c2}$ restores Fermi-liquid behavior in $\rho_{c}(T)$ at $T$ less than 130 mK. Analysis of the $T{^2}$ resistivity coefficient's field-dependence suggests that the QCP in CeCoIn$_{5}$ is located \emph{below} the upper critical field, inside the superconducting phase. These data indicate that while high-$T$ c-axis transport of CeCoIn$_{5}$ exhibits features typical for a heavy fermion system, low-$T$ transport is governed both by spin fluctuations associated with the QCP and Kondo interactions that are influenced by the underlying complex electronic structure intrinsic to the anisotropic CeCoIn$_{5}$ crystal structure

Anomalous Paramagnetic Effects in the Mixed State of LuNi2B2C

Anomalous paramagnetic effects in dc magnetization were observed in the mixed state of LuNi2B2C, unlike any reported previously. It appears as a kink-like feature for H > 30 kOe and becomes more prominent with increasing field. A specific heat jump at the corresponding temperature suggests that the anomaly is due to a true bulk transition. A magnetic flux transition from a square to an hexagonal lattice is consistent with the anomaly.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Entrainment rates and microphysics in POST stratocumulus

The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50878An aircraft field study (POST; Physics of Stratocumulus Top) was conducted off the central California coast in July and August 2008 to deal with the known difficulty of measuring entrainment rates in the radiatively important stratocumulus (Sc) prevalent in that area. The Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies Twin Otter research aircraft flew 15 quasi-Lagrangian flights in unbroken Sc and carried a full complement of probes including three high-data-rate probes: ultrafast temperature probe, particulate volume monitor probe, and gust probe. The probes’ colocation near the nose of the Twin Otter permitted estimation of entrainment fluxes and rates with an in-cloud resolution of 1m. Results include the following: Application of the conditional sampling variation of classical mixed layer theory for calculating the entrainment rate into cloud top for POST flights is shown to be inadequate for most of the Sc. Estimated rates resemble previous results after theory is modified to take into account both entrainment and evaporation at cloud top given the strong wind shear and mixing at cloud top. Entrainment rates show a tendency to decrease for large shear values, and the largest rates are for the smallest temperature jumps across the inversion. Measurements indirectly suggest that entrained parcels are primarily cooled by infrared flux divergence rather than cooling from droplet evaporation, while detrainment at cloud top causes droplet evaporation and cooling in the entrainment interface layer above cloud top.NSF supported H. Gerber, G. Frick, and S. Malinowski (ATM-0735121, AGS-1020445), D. Khelif (ATM-0734323), and S. Krueger (ATM-0735118). The Office of Naval Research and the Naval Postgraduate School supported in part the deployment of the Twin Otter aircraft

All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures

The interplay of light and magnetism has been a topic of interest since the original observations of Faraday and Kerr where magnetic materials affect the light polarization. While these effects have historically been exploited to use light as a probe of magnetic materials there is increasing research on using polarized light to alter or manipulate magnetism. For instance deterministic magnetic switching without any applied magnetic fields using laser pulses of the circular polarized light has been observed for specific ferrimagnetic materials. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, optical control of ferromagnetic materials ranging from magnetic thin films to multilayers and even granular films being explored for ultra-high-density magnetic recording. Our finding shows that optical control of magnetic materials is a much more general phenomenon than previously assumed. These results challenge the current theoretical understanding and will have a major impact on data memory and storage industries via the integration of optical control of ferromagnetic bits.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure