The idea to utilize not only the charge but also the spin of electrons in the
operation of electronic devices has led to the development of spintronics,
causing a revolution in how information is stored and processed. A novel
advancement would be to develop ultrafast spintronics using femtosecond laser
pulses. Employing terahertz (1012 Hz) emission spectroscopy, we
demonstrate optical generation of spin-polarized electric currents at the
interfaces of metallic ferromagnetic heterostructures at the femtosecond
timescale. The direction of the photocurrent is controlled by the helicity of
the circularly polarized light. These results open up new opportunities for
realizing spintronics in the unprecedented terahertz regime and provide new
insights in all-optical control of magnetism.Comment: 3 figures and 2 tables in the main tex