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    Ultrafast magnetic moment transfer and bandgap renormalization in monolayer FeCl2

    Yu-Hui Song1,2, Huan-Cheng Yang1,2,*, Kai Liu1,2,†, and Zhong-Yi Lu1,2,3,‡

    • 1School of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Opto-Electronic Functional Materials & Micro-Nano Devices, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    • 2Key Laboratory of Quantum State Construction and Manipulation (Ministry of Education), Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
    • 3Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China

    • *Contact author: hcyang@ruc.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: kliu@ruc.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: zlu@ruc.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 112, 214449 – Published 23 December, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1xtn-ybq7

    Abstract

    The microscopic origin of laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization remains an open question, to which the nonthermal electronic distribution plays a vital role at the initial stage. Herein, we investigate the connection between the nonthermal electronic distribution and the ultrafast spin dynamics, as well as the electronic structure evolution in ferromagnetic FeCl2 monolayer using real-time time-dependent density functional theory with self-consistent Hubbard U correction. Our simulations reveal that femtosecond laser pulses induce ultrafast magnetic moment transfer from Fe to Cl atoms. More importantly, through a comprehensive analysis of orbital-resolved electronic structure, we elucidate the microscopic origin of this transfer, attributing it to specific intra-atomic and inter-atomic charge transfer pathways driven by nonthermal excitations. The extent of demagnetization of Fe atoms exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on the laser photon energy, reaching a maximum at resonant excitation. In addition, the dynamical evolution of the band structure was studied based on the eigenstates of the instantaneous Hamiltonian. Under resonant excitation, the bandgap reduction reaches up to 41% within tens of fs. These findings provide fundamental insights into ultrafast spin control and suggest a strategy to optically engineer the magnetism in two-dimensional magnetic materials.

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