Abstract
Optical impact on the spin system in a magnetically ordered medium provides a unique possibility for local manipulation of magnetization at subpicosecond time scales. One of the mechanisms of the optical manipulation is related to the inverse Faraday effect (IFE). Usually the IFE is observed in crystals and magnetic films on a substrate. Here we demonstrate the IFE induced by fs-laser pulses in the magnetic film inside the magnetophotonic microcavity. Spectral dependence of the IFE on the laser pulse wavelength in the band gap of the magnetophotonic microcavity has a sharp peak leading to a significant enhancement of the IFE. This phenomenon is explained by strong confinement of the electromagnetic energy within the magnetic film. Calculated near field distribution of the IFE effective magnetic field indicates its subwavelength localization within 30 nm along the film thickness. These excited volumes can be shifted along the sample depth via e.g. changing frequency of the laser pulses. The obtained results open a way for ultrafast optical control of magnetization at subwavelength scales.
Highlights
Optical control of the magnetization at ultrashort time scales is of prime interest[1,2,3,4,5,6] in context of the data processing and spintronic applications[7,8]
We used the magnetophotonic microcavities (MPMC) with a bismuth iron-garnet magnetic film sandwiched between two nonmagnetic dielectric Bragg mirrors (Fig. 1a)
The optically excited spin dynamics in the MPMC was investigated by the pump-probe experimental technique
Summary
Optical control of the magnetization at ultrashort time scales is of prime interest[1,2,3,4,5,6] in context of the data processing and spintronic applications[7,8]. The magnetophotonic crystals contain a periodic magnetic cell, while the magnetophotonic microcavities (MPMC) consist of a subwavelength-size magnetic medium surrounded by a photonic crystal[25,26,27] In the latter case the light localization arises at the microcavity resonance spectrally located inside the photonic band gap[26,27]. Due to the large optical losses in metals the plasmonic resonances are quite broad, that does not allow obtaining large values of the IFE and rather leads to thermal effects. In this respect, all-dielectric structures are more www.nature.com/scientificreports/. The IFE in all-dielectric structures has not yet been experimentally considered
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