All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures

作者：C.-H. Lambert, S. Mangin, B. S. D. Ch. S. Varaprasad, Y. K. Takahashi, M. Hehn, Mirko Cinchetti, G. Malinowski, K. Hono, Yeshaiahu Fainman, Martin Aeschlimann, Eric E. Fullerton · 发表于：Science · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.1126/science.1253493 · 被引用次数：702 · 研究领域：Magnetic properties of thin films、Magneto-Optical Properties and Applications、Advanced Memory and Neural Computing

The interplay of light and magnetism allowed light to be used as a probe of magnetic materials. Now the focus has shifted to use polarized light to alter or manipulate magnetism. Here, we demonstrate optical control of ferromagnetic materials ranging from magnetic thin films to multilayers and even granular films being explored for ultra-high-density magnetic recording. Our finding shows that optical control of magnetic materials is a much more general phenomenon than previously assumed and may have a major impact on data memory and storage industries through the integration of optical control of ferromagnetic bits.