Athermal all-optical femtosecond magnetization reversal in GdFeCo

Abstract

Magnetization reversal in GdFeCo by circularly polarized light is shown to occur at the femtosecond time scale. In contrast to the well-known laser-assisted magnetization reversal based on the laser heating, we here demonstrate that this femtosecond all-optical magnetization reversal is more efficient at lower temperatures. Both of these findings make all-optical recording on rare-earth transition metal alloys a promising technique for stable magnetic storage with high data rates.