The Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch equation for ferrimagnetic materials

We derive the Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch (LLB) equation for a two-component magnetic system valid up to the Curie temperature. As an example, we consider disordered GdFeCo ferrimagnet where the ultrafast optically induced magnetization switching under the action of heat alone has been recently reported. The two-component LLB equation contains the longitudinal relaxation terms responding to the exchange fields from the proper and the neighboring sublattices. We show that the sign of the longitudinal relaxation rate at high temperatures can change depending on the dynamical magnetization value and a dynamical polarisation of one material by another can occur. We discuss the differences between the LLB and the Baryakhtar equation, recently used to explain the ultrafast switching in ferrimagnets. The two-component LLB equation forms basis for the largescale micromagnetic modeling of nanostructures at high temperatures and ultrashort timescales

Spin-flop transition in uniaxial antiferromagnets: magnetic phases, reorientation effects, multidomain states

The classical spin-flop is the field-driven first-order reorientation transition in easy-axis antiferromagnets. A comprehensive phenomenological theory of easy-axis antiferromagnets displaying spin-flops is developed. It is shown how the hierarchy of magnetic coupling strengths in these antiferromagnets causes a strongly pronounced two-scale character in their magnetic phase structure. In contrast to the major part of the magnetic phase diagram, these antiferromagnets near the spin-flop region are described by an effective model akin to uniaxial ferromagnets. For a consistent theoretical description both higher-order anisotropy contributions and dipolar stray-fields have to be taken into account near the spin-flop. In particular, thermodynamically stable multidomain states exist in the spin-flop region, owing to the phase coexistence at this first-order transition. For this region, equilibrium spin-configurations and parameters of the multidomain states are derived as functions of the external magnetic field. The components of the magnetic susceptibility tensor are calculated for homogeneous and multidomain states in the vicinity of the spin-flop. The remarkable anomalies in these measurable quantities provide an efficient method to investigate magnetic states and to determine materials parameters in bulk and confined antiferromagnets, as well as in nanoscale synthetic antiferromagnets. The method is demonstrated for experimental data on the magnetic properties near the spin-flop region in the orthorhombic layered antiferromagnet (C_2H_5NH_3)_2CuCl_4.Comment: (15 pages, 12 figures; 2nd version: improved notation and figures, correction of various typos

Kinetic and Transport Equations for Localized Excitations in Sine-Gordon Model

We analyze the kinetic behavior of localized excitations - solitons, breathers and phonons - in Sine-Gordon model. Collision integrals for all type of localized excitation collision processes are constructed, and the kinetic equations are derived. We analyze the kinetic behavior of localized excitations - solitons, breathers and phonons - in Sine-Gordon model. Collision integrals for all type of localized excitation collision processes are constructed, and the kinetic equations are derived. We prove that the entropy production in the system of localized excitations takes place only in the case of inhomogeneous distribution of these excitations in real and phase spaces. We derive transport equations for soliton and breather densities, temperatures and mean velocities i.e. show that collisions of localized excitations lead to creation of diffusion, thermoconductivity and intrinsic friction processes. The diffusion coefficients for solitons and breathers, describing the diffusion processes in real and phase spaces, are calculated. It is shown that diffusion processes in real space are much faster than the diffusion processes in phase space.Comment: 23 pages, latex, no figure

Evidence of electro-active excitation of the spin cycloid in TbMnO3

Terahertz electromagnetic excitations in the multiferroic TbMnO3 at the field-induced magnetic transition are investigated for different orientations of the magnetic cycloid. In addition to the electromagnon along the a-axis, the detailed polarization analysis of the experimental spectra suggests the existence of an electro-active excitation for ac electric fields along the crystallographic c-axis. This excitation is possibly the electro-active eigenmode of the spin cycloid in TbMnO3, which has been predicted within the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya mechanism of magnetoelectric coupling.Comment: 5 page

Dynamical magneto-electric coupling in helical magnets

Collective mode dynamics of the helical magnets coupled to electric polarization via spin-orbit interaction is studied theoretically. The soft modes associated with the ferroelectricity are not the transverse optical phonons, as expected from the Lyddane-Sachs-Teller relation, but are the spin waves hybridized with the electric polarization. This leads to the Drude-like dielectric function $\epsilon(\omega)$ in the limit of zero magnetic anisotropy. There are two more low-lying modes; phason of the spiral and rotation of helical plane along the polarization axis. The roles of these soft modes in the neutron scattering and antiferromagnetic resonance are revealed, and a novel experiment to detect the dynamical magneto-electric coupling is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Magneto-electric excitations in multiferroic TbMnO3 by Raman scattering

Low energy excitations in the multiferroic material TbMnO3 have been investigated by Raman spectroscopy. Our observations reveal the existence of two peaks at 30 cm-1 and 60 cm-1. They are observed in the cycloidal phase below the Curie temperature but not in the sinusoidal phase, suggesting their magnetoelectric origin. While the peak energies coincide with the frequencies of electromagnons measured previously by transmission spectroscopy, they show surprisingly different selection rules, with the 30 cm-1 excitation enhanced by the electric field of light along the spontaneous polarization. The origins of the modes are discussed under Raman and infrared selection rules considerations

Thermodynamically self-consistent non-stochastic micromagnetic model for the ferromagnetic state

In this work, a self-consistent thermodynamic approach to micromagnetism is presented. The magnetic degrees of freedom are modeled using the Landau-Lifshitz-Baryakhtar theory, that separates the different contributions to the magnetic damping, and thereby allows them to be coupled to the electron and phonon systems in a self-consistent way. We show that this model can quantitatively reproduce ultrafast magnetization dynamics in Nickel.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Microscopic mechanisms of magnetization reversal

Two principal scenarios of magnetization reversal are considered. In the first scenario all spins perform coherent motion and an excess of magnetic energy directly goes to a nonmagnetic thermal bath. A general dynamic equation is derived which includes a tensor damping term similar to the Bloch-Bloembergen form but the magnetization magnitude remains constant for any deviation from equilibrium. In the second reversal scenario, the absolute value of the averaged sample magnetization is decreased by a rapid excitation of nonlinear spin-wave resonances by uniform magnetization precession. We have developed an analytic k-space micromagnetic approach that describes this entire reversal process in an ultra-thin soft ferromagnetic film for up to 90^{o} deviation from equilibrium. Conditions for the occurrence of the two scenarios are discussed