Terahertz emission from $\alpha$-W/CoFe epitaxial spintronic emitters

Abstract

We report efficient terahertz (THz) generation in epitaxial $\alpha$-W/Co$_6$0Fe$_4$0 spintronic emitters. Two types of emitters have been investigated; epitaxial $\alpha$-W(110)/Co$_6$0Fe$_4$0(110) and $\alpha$-W(001)/Co$_6$0Fe$_4$0(001) deposited on single crystalline Al$_2$O$_3$(11-20) and MgO(001) substrates, respectively. The generated THz radiation is about 10% larger for $\alpha$-W(110)/Co$_6$0Fe$_4$0(110) grown on single crystalline Al$_2$O$_3$(11-20), which is explained by the fact that the $\alpha$-W(110)/Co$_6$0Fe$_4$0(110) interface for this emitter is more transparent to the spin current due to the presence of Angstrom-scale interface intermixing at the W/CoFe interface. Our results also reveal that the generation of THz radiation is larger when pumping with the laser light from the substrate side, which is explained by a larger part of the laser light due to interference effects in the film stack being absorbed in the ferromagnetic Co$_6$0Fe$_4$0 layer in this measurement configuration