Ultrafast dynamics in electronic band structure of optically excited epitaxial FeRh: X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory approach

Abstract

The observation of ultrafast and coherent control of spins in magnetic materials at room temperature [1-2] has prompted the experimental and theoretical efforts to understand the underlying mechanisms driving such magnetic phenomena. In order to understand the driving mechanisms, in this non-equilibrium regime, it is necessary to disentangle the relevant interactions (exchange, spin-lattice, electron-phonon, coulomb etc.).Stoichiometric B2 ordered epitaxial (001) FeRh undergoes a first order magnetic phase transition from antiferromagnetic (AFM) to ferromagnetic (FM) at ≈ 380K. In the AFM phase of FeRh, only Fe has net magnetic moment, whereas in the FM phase both Fe and Rh carry net moments. The phase transition is also accompanied by a ≈ 1% isotropic lattice expansion in the bulk BCC structure, and changes in electronic structure, see [3-5] and refs. therein. Since magnetic and structural dynamics can occur at different timescales, it makes FeRh an ideal candidate for disentangling relevant interaction mechanisms at different timescales. The phase transition has been extensively studied theoretically and experimentally [6-10], in thermal equilibrium (static heating) and at ultrafast time scales (fs- optical excitation), but a precise knowledge of the roles of the electronic, phononic and spin sub-systems remains elusive.We have studied the laser-driven AFM to FM phase transition in FeRh with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (tr-XAS) around the Fe L3 edge. The experiments were performed at the SCS Instrument of the European XFEL. We also performed the density functional theory (DFT) calculations to simulate the XAS spectra at different time delays including magnetic, lattice and temperature changes. Temperature modelling was done using two temperature model (2TM).In this contribution, we will discuss the changes in the electronic band structure of FeRh in the femto- and picosecond timescales, derived from the X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements at the Fe L3 absorption and compare them with the density functional theory simulations. **