1 research outputs found
Optically Triggered NeĢel Vector Manipulation of a Metallic Antiferromagnet Mn<sub>2</sub>Au under Strain
The absence of stray fields, their insensitivity to external
magnetic
fields, and ultrafast dynamics make antiferromagnets promising candidates
for active elements in spintronic devices. Here, we demonstrate manipulation
of the NeĢel vector in the metallic collinear antiferromagnet
Mn2Au by combining strain and femtosecond laser excitation.
Applying tensile strain along either of the two in-plane easy axes
and locally exciting the sample by a train of femtosecond pulses,
we align the NeĢel vector along the direction controlled by
the applied strain. The dependence on the laser fluence and strain
suggests the alignment is a result of optically triggered depinning
of 90Ā° domain walls and their motion in the direction of the
free energy gradient, governed by the magneto-elastic coupling. The
resulting, switchable state is stable at room temperature and insensitive
to magnetic fields. Such an approach may provide ways to realize robust
high-density memory device with switching time scales in the picosecond
range