[en] Resonant ultrafast excitation of infrared-active phonons is a powerful technique with which to control the electronic properties of materials that leads to remarkable phenomena such as the light-induced enhancement of superconductivity1,2, switching of ferroelectric polarization3,4 and ultrafast insulator-to-metal transitions5. Here, we show that light-driven phonons can be utilized to coherently manipulate macroscopic magnetic states. Intense mid-infrared electric field pulses tuned to resonance with a phonon mode of the archetypical antiferromagnet DyFeO3 induce ultrafast and long-living changes of the fundamental exchange interaction between rare-earth orbitals and transition metal spins. Non-thermal lattice control of the magnetic exchange, which defines the stability of the macroscopic magnetic state, allows us to perform picosecond coherent switching between competing antiferromagnetic and weakly ferromagnetic spin orders. Our discovery emphasizes the potential of resonant phonon excitation for the manipulation of ferroic order on ultrafast timescales6.
Research Center/Unit :
QMAT, PhyTheMa
Disciplines :
Physics
Author, co-author :
Afanasiev, D.; Delft University of Technology > Kavli Institute of Nanoscience
Hortensius, J. R.; Delft University of Technology > Kavli Institute of Nanoscience
Ivanov, B. A.; National University of Science and Technology MISiS
Sasani, Alireza ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de physique > Physique théorique des matériaux
Bousquet, Eric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de physique > Physique théorique des matériaux
Blanter, Y. M.; Delft University of Technology > Kavli Institute of Nanoscience
Mikhaylovskiy, R. V.; Lancaster University
Kimel, A. V.; Radboud University Nijmegen > Institute for Molecules and Materials
Caviglia, A. D.; Delft University of Technology > Kavli Institute of Nanoscience
Language :
English
Title :
Ultrafast control of magnetic interactions via light-driven phonons
Publication date :
2021
Journal title :
Nature Materials
ISSN :
1476-1122
eISSN :
1476-4660
Publisher :
Nature Publishing Group, United Kingdom
Volume :
20
Pages :
607
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Tags :
Tier-1 supercomputer CÉCI : Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Intensif
CÉCI supercomputer facilities (grant no. 2.5020.1) and Tier-1 supercomputer of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles funded by the Walloon Region (grant no. 1117545).
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