All optical control of magnetization in quantum confined ultrathin magnetic metals

Abstract

Abstract All-optical control dynamics of magnetization in sub-10 nm metallic thin films are investigated, as these films with quantum confinement undergo unique interactions with femtosecond laser pulses. Our theoretical analysis based on the free electron model shows that the density of states at Fermi level (DOSF) and electron–phonon coupling coefficients (Gep) in ultrathin metals have very high sensitivity to film thickness within a few angstroms. We show that completely different magnetization dynamics characteristics emerge if DOSF and Gep depend on thickness compared with bulk metals. Our model suggests highly efficient energy transfer from femtosecond laser photons to spin waves due to minimal energy absorption by phonons. This sensitivity to the thickness and efficient energy transfer offers an opportunity to obtain ultrafast on-chip magnetization dynamics.