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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Ultrafast magnetization dynamics in the half-metallic Heusler alloy Co2FeAl

R. S. Malik1, E. K. Delczeg-Czirjak1, R. Knut1, D. Thonig3, I. Vaskivskyi1, D. Phuyal1,2, R. Gupta4, S. Jana1, R. Stefanuik1 et al.

Y. O. Kvashnin1, S. Husain4, A. Kumar4, P. Svedlindh4, J. Söderström1, O. Eriksson1,3, and O. Karis1

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden
  • 2Department of Applied Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  • 3School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, SE-70182 Örebro, Sweden
  • 4Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Uppsala University, Box 534, SE-75121 Uppsala, Sweden

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Phys. Rev. B 104, L100408 – Published 14 September, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.L100408

Abstract

We report on optically induced, ultrafast magnetization dynamics in the Heusler alloy Co2FeAl, probed by time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. Experimental results are compared to results from electronic structure theory and atomistic spin-dynamics simulations. Experimentally, we find that the demagnetization time (τM) in films of Co2FeAl is almost independent of varying structural order, and that it is similar to that in elemental 3d ferromagnets. In contrast, the slower process of magnetization recovery, specified by τR, is found to occur on picosecond time scales, and is demonstrated to correlate strongly with the Gilbert damping parameter (α). Based on these results we argue that for Co2FeAl the remagnetization process is dominated by magnon dynamics, something which might have general applicability.

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23 March, 2022

Correction: The copyright license statement was presented incorrectly and has been fixed.

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Phys. Rev. B 104, L100408– Published 14 September, 2021
  • Received 1 March 2020
  • Revised 24 August 2021
  • Accepted 24 August 2021
  • Corrected 23 March 2022
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