2 research outputs found
Beyond a phenomenological description of magnetostriction
We use ultrafast x-ray and electron diffraction to disentangle spin-lattice
coupling of granular FePt in the time domain. The reduced dimensionality of
single-crystalline FePt nanoparticles leads to strong coupling of magnetic
order and a highly anisotropic three-dimensional lattice motion characterized
by a- and b-axis expansion and c-axis contraction. The resulting increase of
the FePt lattice tetragonality, the key quantity determining the energy barrier
between opposite FePt magnetization orientations, persists for tens of
picoseconds. These results suggest a novel approach to laser-assisted magnetic
switching in future data storage applications.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure