Magnetic switching in granular FePt layers promoted by near-field laser enhancement

Light-matter interaction at the nanoscale in magnetic materials is a topic of intense research in view of potential applications in next-generation high-density magnetic recording. Laser-assisted switching provides a pathway for overcoming the material constraints of high-anisotropy and high-packing density media, though much about the dynamics of the switching process remains unexplored. We use ultrafast small-angle x-ray scattering at an x-ray free-electron laser to probe the magnetic switching dynamics of FePt nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix following excitation by an optical femtosecond laser pulse. We observe that the combination of laser excitation and applied static magnetic field, one order of magnitude smaller than the coercive field, can overcome the magnetic anisotropy barrier between "up" and "down" magnetization, enabling magnetization switching. This magnetic switching is found to be inhomogeneous throughout the material, with some individual FePt nanoparticles neither switching nor demagnetizing. The origin of this behavior is identified as the near-field modification of the incident laser radiation around FePt nanoparticles. The fraction of not-switching nanoparticles is influenced by the heat flow between FePt and a heat-sink layer

Indirect excitation of ultrafast demagnetization

Does the excitation of ultrafast magnetization require direct interaction between the photons of the optical pump pulse and the magnetic layer? Here, we demonstrate unambiguously that this is not the case. For this we have studied the magnetization dynamics of a ferromagnetic cobalt/palladium multilayer capped by an IR-opaque aluminum layer. Upon excitation with an intense femtosecond-short IR laser pulse, the film exhibits the classical ultrafast demagnetization phenomenon although only a negligible number of IR photons penetrate the aluminum layer. In comparison with an uncapped cobalt/palladium reference film, the initial demagnetization of the capped film occurs with a delayed onset and at a slower rate. Both observations are qualitatively in line with energy transport from the aluminum layer into the underlying magnetic film by the excited, hot electrons of the aluminum film. Our data thus confirm recent theoretical predictions

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

Stable Silaimines with Three- and Four-Coordinate Silicon Atoms

Samuel PP, Azhakar R, Ghadwal R, et al. Stable Silaimines with Three- and Four-Coordinate Silicon Atoms. Inorganic Chemistry. 2012;51(20):11049-11054.The reactions of silylenes with organic azides are quite diverse, depending on the substituents of the silylene center and on the nature of the azide employed. Elusive silaimine with three-coordinate silicon atom L1SiN(2,6-Triip2-C6H3) (5) {L1 = CH[(C═CH2)(CMe)(2,6-iPr2C6H3N)2] and Triip = 2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl} was synthesized by treatment of the silylene L1Si (1) with a sterically demanding 2,6-bis(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl)phenyl azide (2,6-Triip2C6H3N3). The reaction of Lewis base-stabilized dichlorosilylene L2SiCl2 (2) {L2 = 1,3-bis(2,6-iPr2C6H3)imidazol-2-ylidene} with Ph3SiN3 afforded four-coordinate silaimine L2(Cl2)SiNSiPh3 (6). Treatment of 2,6-Triip2C6H3N3 with L3SiCl (3) (L3 = PhC(NtBu)2) yielded silaimine L3(Cl)SiN(2,6-Triip2-C6H3) (7) possessing a four-coordinate silicon atom. The reactions of L3SiN(SiMe3)2 (4) with adamantyl and trimethylsilyl azide furnished silaimine compounds with a four-coordinate silicon atom L3(N(Ad)SiMe3)SiN(SiMe3) (8) (Ad = adamantyl) and L3(N(SiMe3)2)SiN(SiMe3) (9). Compound 8 was formed by migration of one of the SiMe3 groups. Compounds 5–9 are stable under inert atmosphere and were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray studies

Correlation-Driven Insulator-Metal Transition in Near-Ideal Vanadium Dioxide Films

We use polarization- and temperature-dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy, in combination with photoelectron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electronic transport measurements, to study the driving force behind the insulator-metal transition in VO2. We show that both the collapse of the insulating gap and the concomitant change in crystal symmetry in homogeneously strained single-crystalline VO2 films are preceded by the purely electronic softening of Coulomb correlations within V-V singlet dimers. This process starts 7 K (±0.3 K) below the transition temperature, as conventionally defined by electronic transport and x-ray diffraction measurements, and sets the energy scale for driving the near-room-temperature insulator-metal transition in this technologically promising material

Correlation-Driven Insulator-Metal Transition in Near-Ideal Vanadium Dioxide Films.

We use polarization- and temperature-dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy, in combination with photoelectron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electronic transport measurements, to study the driving force behind the insulator-metal transition in VO_{2}. We show that both the collapse of the insulating gap and the concomitant change in crystal symmetry in homogeneously strained single-crystalline VO_{2} films are preceded by the purely electronic softening of Coulomb correlations within V-V singlet dimers. This process starts 7 K (±0.3  K) below the transition temperature, as conventionally defined by electronic transport and x-ray diffraction measurements, and sets the energy scale for driving the near-room-temperature insulator-metal transition in this technologically promising material

Measurement of collective excitations in VO₂ by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Vanadium dioxide is of broad interest as a spin-1/2 electron system that realizes a metal-insulator transition near room temperature, due to a combination of strongly correlated and itinerant electron physics. Here, resonant inelastic X-ray scattering is used to measure the excitation spectrum of charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom at the vanadium L-edge under different polarization and temperature conditions. These spectra reveal the evolution of energetics across the metal-insulator transition, including the low temperature appearance of a strong candidate for the singlet-triplet excitation of a vanadium dimer.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure