2019-11-28T16:55:23Z, Evers, Martin, Nowak, Ulrich

We present a study on spin-superfluid transport based on an atomistic, classical spin model. Easy-plane ferro- as well as antiferromagnets are considered, which allows for a direct comparison of these two material classes based on the same model assumptions. We find a spin-superfluid transport which is robust against variations of the boundary conditions, thermal fluctuations, and dissipation modeled via Gilbert damping. Though the spin accumulations is smaller for antiferromagnets the range of the spin-superfluid transport turns out to be identical for ferro- and antiferromagnets. Finally, we calculate and explore the role of the driving frequency and especially the critical frequency, where phase slips occur and the spin accumulation breaks down.

2019, Zázvorka, Jakub, Jakobs, Florian, Heinze, Daniel, Keil, Niklas, Kromin, Sascha, Jaiswal, Samridh, Litzius, Kai, Donges, Andreas, Nowak, Ulrich, Kläui, Mathias

Magnetic skyrmions in thin films can be efficiently displaced with high speed by using spin-transfer torques1,2 and spin–orbit torques3,4,5 at low current densities. Although this favourable combination of properties has raised expectations for using skyrmions in devices6,7, only a few publications have studied the thermal effects on the skyrmion dynamics8,9,10. However, thermally induced skyrmion dynamics can be used for applications11 such as unconventional computing approaches12, as they have been predicted to be useful for probabilistic computing devices13. In our work, we uncover thermal diffusive skyrmion dynamics by a combined experimental and numerical study. We probed the dynamics of magnetic skyrmions in a specially tailored low-pinning multilayer material. The observed thermally excited skyrmion motion dominates the dynamics. Analysing the diffusion as a function of temperature, we found an exponential dependence, which we confirmed by means of numerical simulations. The diffusion of skyrmions was further used in a signal reshuffling device as part of a skyrmion-based probabilistic computing architecture. Owing to its inherent two-dimensional texture, the observation of a diffusive motion of skyrmions in thin-film systems may also yield insights in soft-matter-like characteristics (for example, studies of fluctuation theorems, thermally induced roughening and so on), which thus makes it highly desirable to realize and study thermal effects in experimentally accessible skyrmion systems.

2018-11-14, Hofherr, Moritz, Moretti, Simone, Häuser, Simon, Safonova, Nataliia Y., Kapteyn, Henry C., Cinchetti, Mirko, Steil, Daniel, Albrecht, Manfred, Nowak, Ulrich, Aeschlimann, Martin

Ferromagnetic metal alloys are today commonly used in spintronic and magnetic data storage devices. These multicompound structures consist of several magnetic sublattices exhibiting both intrinsic and induced magnetic moments. Here, we study the response of the element-specific magnetization dynamics for thin film systems based on purely intrinsic (CoFeB) and partially induced (FePt) magnetic moments using extreme ultraviolet pulses from high-harmonic generation (HHG) as an element-sensitive probe. In FePt, on the one hand, we observe an identical normalized transient magnetization for Fe and Pt throughout both the ultrafast demagnetization and the subsequent remagnetization. On the other hand, Co and Fe show a clear difference in the asymptotic limit of the remagnetization process in CoFeB, which is supported by calculations for the temperature-dependent behavior of the equilibrium magnetization using a dynamic spin model. Thus, in this work, we provide a vital step toward a comprehensive understanding of ultrafast light-induced magnetization dynamics in ferromagnetic alloys with sublattices of intrinsic and induced magnetic moments.

2018-07-03, Shalaby, Mostafa, Donges, Andreas, Carva, Karel, Allenspach, Rolf, Oppeneer, Peter M., Nowak, Ulrich, Hauri, Christoph P.

Ultrafast spin dynamics in magnetic materials is generally associated with ultrafast heating of the electronic system by a near infrared femtosecond laser pulse, thus offering only an indirect and nonselective access to the spin order. Here we explore spin dynamics in ferromagnets by means of extremely intense THz pulses, as at these low frequencies the magnetic field provides a direct and selective route to coherently control the magnetization. We find that, at low fields, the observed off-resonantly excited spin precession is phase locked to the THz magnetic field. At extreme THz fields, the coherent spin dynamics become convoluted with an ultrafast incoherent magnetic quenching due to the absorbed energy. This demagnetization takes place upon a single shot exposure. The magnetic properties are found to be permanently modified above a THz pump fluence of ≈100mJ/cm². We conclude that magnetization switching cannot be reached. Our atomistic spin-dynamics simulations excellently explain the measured magnetization response. We find that demagnetization driven by THz laser-field coupling to electron charges occurs, suggesting nonconducting materials for achieving coherent THz-magnetization reversal.

2019-08-23, Mondal, Ritwik, Donges, Andreas, Ritzmann, Ulrike, Oppeneer, Peter M., Nowak, Ulrich

Efficient manipulation of magnetization at ultrashort timescales is of particular interest for future technology. Here, we numerically investigate the influence of the so-called field-derivative torque, which was derived earlier based on relativistic Dirac theory [R. Mondal et al., Phys. Rev. B 94, 144419 (2016)], on the spin dynamics triggered by ultrashort laser pulses. We find that only considering the THz Zeeman field can underestimate the spin excitation in antiferromagnetic oxide systems such as, e.g., NiO and CoO. However, accounting for both the THz Zeeman torque and the field-derivative torque, the amplitude of the spin excitation increases significantly. Studying the damping dependence of the field-derivative torque we observe larger effects for materials having larger damping constants.

2019, Weißenhofer, Markus, Nowak, Ulrich

We study the current-driven motion of metastable localized spin structures with various topological charges in a (Pt_0.95Ir_0.05)/Fe bilayer on a Pd(111) surface by combining atomistic spin model simulations with an approach based on the generalized Thiele equation. We demonstrate that besides a distinct dependence on the topological charge itself the dynamic response of skyrmionic structures with topological charges Q=−1 and Q=3 to a spin-polarized current exhibits an orientation dependence. We further show that such an orientation dependence can be induced by applying an in-plane external field, possibly opening up a different pathway to the manipulation of skyrmion dynamics.

2018-09-13, Simon, Eszter, Yanes Díaz, Rocio, Khmelevskyi, Sergii, Palotás, Krisztián, Szunyogh, László, Nowak, Ulrich

Based on ab initio calculations and spin dynamics simulations, we perform a detailed study on the magnetic properties of bulk MnN and the MnN/Fe interface. We determine the spin model parameters for the θ-phase of bulk MnN, and we find that the competition between the nearest and the next-nearest-neighbor interactions leads to antiferromagnetic ordering of the Mn spins, in agreement with previous theoretical and experimental results. At the MnN/Fe interface, a sizable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction appears leading to a stable exchange-bias effect. We study the dependences of the exchange-bias effect on the thicknesses of the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic layers, and we compare them to experimentally obtained results [Meinert et al., Phys. Rev. B 92, 144408 (2015)].

2019-01, Aßmann, Matthias, Nowak, Ulrich

A combined dynamics for the spin and lattice degrees of freedom is proposed. For that we couple a Heisenberg spin Hamiltonian via a distance dependent exchange integral and an anisotropic correction to the lattice, where the latter is formed by a harmonic potential. With these extensions the transfer of energy as well as angular momentum between lattice and spins is possible. We test this model successfully by reproducing the Einstein-De Haas effect for a free cluster. On the other hand we find severe differences of the temperature dependent demagnetization dynamics of the new approach as compared to the well-established magnetization dynamics covered by Gilbert damping.

2019, Rózsa, Levente, Selzer, Severin, Birk, Tobias, Atxitia, Unai, Nowak, Ulrich

Antiferromagnetic materials hold promising prospects in novel types of spintronics applications. Assessing the stability of antiferromagnetic nanostructures against thermal excitations is a crucial aspect of designing devices with a high information density. Here we use theoretical calculations and numerical simulations to determine the mean switching time of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles in the superparamagnetic limit. It is demonstrated that the thermal stability is drastically reduced compared to ferromagnetic particles in the limit of low Gilbert damping, attributed to the exchange enhancement of the attempt frequencies. It is discussed how the system parameters have to be engineered in order to optimize the switching rates in antiferromagnetic nanoparticles.

2018-07-16, Lu, Xianyang, Zou, Xiao, Hinzke, Denise, Liu, Tao, Wang, Yichuan, Wu, Jing, Ostler, Thomas A., Cai, Jianwang, Nowak, Ulrich, Xu, Yongbing

Using the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect method, helicity-dependent all-optical magnetization switching (HD-AOS) is observed in ferrimagnetic TbFeCo films. Our results reveal the individual roles of the thermal and nonthermal effects after a single circularly polarized laser pulse. The evolution of this ultrafast switching occurs over different time scales, and a defined magnetization reversal time of 460 fs is shown—the fastest ever observed. Micromagnetic simulations based on a single macro-spin model, taking into account both heating and the inverse Faraday effect, are performed which reproduce HD-AOS demonstrating a linear path for magnetization reversal.