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Ultrafast laser-induced magnetic relaxation in artificial spin ice driven by dipolar interactions

D. Pecchio1,2, S. Sahoo1,2,*, O. Chubykalo-Fesenko3, S. Koraltan4, G. M. Macauley1,2,†, T. Thomson5, D. Suess4, V. Scagnoli1,2,‡, and L. J. Heyderman1,2

  • *Contact author: sourav.sahoo@psi.ch
  • †Present address: Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540 USA.
  • ‡Contact author: valerio.scagnoli@psi.ch
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 064404 – Published 3 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rtr1-7cyt

Abstract

It is of great interest to develop methods to rapidly and effectively control the magnetic configurations in artificial spin ices, which are arrangements of dipolar coupled nanomagnets that have a variety of fascinating collective magnetic phenomena associated with them. This is not only valuable in terms of acquiring fundamental understanding but is also important for future high-performance applications. Here, we demonstrate ultrafast control of magnetic relaxation in artificial square ice through femtosecond laser pulsed excitation, enabling rapid access to low-energy states via dipolar interactions. Time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements reveal that, after laser-induced demagnetization, the magnetization recovers 60% of its original value within 40 picoseconds. During this brief time window, dipolar coupling drives a collective magnetic ordering. Ex situ magnetic force microscopy confirms the emergence of extended domains with the lowest-energy vertex configuration, characteristic of ground-state ordering, thus establishing ultrafast laser-driven relaxation as a route to attain the low-energy states. Through complementary energy barrier calculations and micromagnetic simulations incorporating Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch dynamics, we elucidate the underlying mechanism: transient ultrafast demagnetization followed by rapid remagnetization that enables a dipolar-driven collective rearrangement. Moreover, a tailored decreasing-fluence laser excitation protocol is shown to enhance ground-state ordering, consistently achieving over 92% ground-state vertex populations. This work opens the way to ultrafast and spatially selective control of magnetic states in artificial spin ice for spin-based computation and memory technologies, and highlights the critical interplay of thermal fluctuations, magnetostatic coupling, and transient magnetization dynamics.

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Phys. Rev. B 113, 064404– Published 3 February, 2026
  • Received 5 August 2025
  • Revised 11 November 2025
  • Accepted 1 December 2025
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