Ab initio theory of electron-phonon mediated ultrafast spin relaxation of laser-excited hot electrons in transition-metal ferromagnets

We report a computational theoretical investigation of electron spin-flip scattering induced by the electron-phonon interaction in the transition-metal ferromagnets bcc Fe, fcc Co and fcc Ni. The Elliott-Yafet electron-phonon spin-flip scattering is computed from first-principles, employing a generalized spin-flip Eliashberg function as well as ab initio computed phonon dispersions. Aiming at investigating the amount of electron-phonon mediated demagnetization in femtosecond laser-excited ferromagnets, the formalism is extended to treat laser-created thermalized as well as nonequilibrium, nonthermal hot electron distributions. Using the developed formalism we compute the phonon-induced spin lifetimes of hot electrons in Fe, Co, and Ni. The electron-phonon mediated demagnetization rate is evaluated for laser-created thermalized and nonequilibrium electron distributions. Nonthermal distributions are found to lead to a stronger demagnetization rate than hot, thermalized distributions, yet their demagnetizing effect is not enough to explain the experimentally observed demagnetization occurring in the subpicosecond regime.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, to appear in PR

Ab initio investigation of Elliott-Yafet electron-phonon mechanism in laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization

The spin-flip (SF) Eliashberg function is calculated from first-principles for ferromagnetic Ni to accurately establish the contribution of Elliott-Yafet electron-phonon SF scattering to Ni's femtosecond laser-driven demagnetization. This is used to compute the SF probability and demagnetization rate for laser-created thermalized as well as non-equilibrium electron distributions. Increased SF probabilities are found for thermalized electrons, but the induced demagnetization rate is extremely small. A larger demagnetization rate is obtained for {non-equilibrium} electron distributions, but its contribution is too small to account for femtosecond demagnetization.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in PR

Multiscale modeling of ultrafast element-specific magnetization dynamics of ferromagnetic alloys

A hierarchical multiscale approach to model the magnetization dynamics of ferromagnetic ran- dom alloys is presented. First-principles calculations of the Heisenberg exchange integrals are linked to atomistic spin models based upon the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation to calculate temperature-dependent parameters (e.g., effective exchange interactions, damping param- eters). These parameters are subsequently used in the Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch (LLB) model for multi-sublattice magnets to calculate numerically and analytically the ultrafast demagnetization times. The developed multiscale method is applied here to FeNi (permalloy) as well as to copper- doped FeNi alloys. We find that after an ultrafast heat pulse the Ni sublattice demagnetizes faster than the Fe sublattice for the here-studied FeNi-based alloys

Influence of laser-excited electron distributions on the x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectra: Implications for femtosecond demagnetization in Ni

In pump-probe experiments an intensive laser pulse creates non-equilibrium excited electron distributions in the first few hundred femtoseconds after the pulse. The influence of non-equilibrium electron distributions caused by a pump laser on the apparent X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) signal of Ni is investigated theoretically here for the first time, considering electron distributions immediately after the pulse as well as thermalized ones, that are not in equilibrium with the lattice or spin systems. The XMCD signal is shown not to be simply proportional to the spin momentum in these situations. The computed spectra are compared to recent pump-probe XMCD experiments on Ni. We find that the majority of experimentally observed features considered to be a proof of ultrafast spin momentum transfer to the lattice can alternatively be attributed to non-equilibrium electron distributions. Furthermore, we find the XMCD sum rules for the atomic spin and orbital magnetic moment to remain valid, even for the laser induced non-equilibrium electron distributions.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Spin-Mixing Conductances of Ni-Based Films Attached to Cu(100) Leads

The complex spin-mixing conductance of epitaxial Cu/Ni/Cu(100) systems is predicted to oscillate as a function of Ni thickness. The oscillation period is explained in terms of spin-resolved Fermi surface properties of bulk nickel. Stability of the oscillations with respect to interface Cu-Ni interdiffusion and to alloying in the Ni film is investigated as well

Ab initio formulation of the four-point conductance of interacting electronic systems

We derive an expression for the four-point conductance of a general quantum junction in terms of the density response function. Our formulation allows us to show that the four-point conductance of an interacting electronic system possessing either a geometrical constriction and/or an opaque barrier becomes identical to the macroscopically measurable two-point conductance. Within time-dependent density-functional theory the formulation leads to a direct identification of the functional form of the exchange-correlation kernel that is important for the conductance. We demonstrate the practical implementation of our formula for a metal-vacuum-metal interface

Landauer theory of ballistic torkances in non-collinear spin valves

We present a theory of voltage-induced spin-transfer torques in ballistic non-collinear spin valves. The torkance on one ferromagnetic layer is expressed in terms of scattering coefficients of the whole spin valve, in analogy to the Landauer conductance formula. The theory is applied to Co/Cu/Ni(001)-based systems where long-range oscillations of the Ni-torkance as a function of Ni thickness are predicted. The oscillations represent a novel quantum size effect due to the non-collinear magnetic structure. The oscillatory behavior of the torkance contrasts a thickness-independent trend of the conductance.Comment: Version 3: 6 pages, 3 figures. Corrected version that passed the peer-review proces