All-optical magnetization switching by counterpropagataion or two-frequency pulses using the plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect in magnetoplasmonic structures

Abstract

In this Letter we study the generation of quasi-static magnetic fields by the plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect and propose a magneto-optical waveguide structure for achieving magnetization switching at sub-ps time in a nano-confined magneto-optical structure. In particular we show that the direction of the generated quasi-static field in a magneto-optical dielectric cavity side-coupled to a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide depends sensitively on the wavelength of the surface plasmon polaritions (SPP). This phenomenon could open up a new energy-efficient ultrafast method for nano-confined all-optical magnetization switching by two-frequency pulses.