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    Terahertz enhancement in NiO/Fe/Pt heterostructures driven by laser-induced magneto-ionic interfacial reconstruction

    Jia Xu1,*,†, Xianguo Jiang1,*, Shaohua Zhang1,*, Yaxuan Jin1, Lei Hao1, Ning Yang1, Yizheng Wu2,3, Feng Xu1, Wendeng Huang1 et al.

    Hao Meng1, Johan Åkerman4,5, Yan Zhou6,‡, and Chao Zhou1,§

    • 1Department of Physics, School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong 723001, China
    • 2Department of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
    • 3Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences, Shanghai 201315, China
    • 4Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan
    • 5Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577, Japan
    • 6Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Aggregate Science, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China

    • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
    • †Contact author: xujia@snut.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: zhouyan@cuhk.edu.cn
    • §Contact author: zhouchao@snut.edu.cn
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    Phys. Rev. B 113, 144404 – Published 2 April, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/wlkb-prn8

    Abstract

    Antiferromagnetic oxide materials are emerging as key ingredients in spintronic devices and ultrafast terahertz (THz) emitters due to their distinct spin dynamics and vanishing net magnetization. Here, we report an irreversible, time-dependent enhancement of THz emission from exchange-coupled NiO/Fe/Pt trilayers under femtosecond laser excitation, with the THz signal amplitude increasing by up to 150%. Magneto-optical Kerr and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal that laser exposure drives interfacial ionic reconstruction, specifically the formation of oxygen vacancies in NiO that create Ni-rich regions at the NiO/Fe interface. This magneto-ionic modification boosts spin-current injection into the heavy metal layer and thereby amplifies the emitted THz radiation. Such a phenomenon is strongly dependent on the pump power and demonstrates a threshold behavior. This enhancement is tunable by adjusting the NiO layer thickness and its oxygen richness. Our findings highlight an effective mechanism for ultrafast control of spintronic THz sources and suggest another strategy for engineering antiferromagnet-based THz emitters via laser-driven interfacial ionic processes.

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    Phys. Rev. B 113, 144404– Published 2 April, 2026
    • Received 21 September 2025
    • Revised 16 January 2026
    • Accepted 2 March 2026
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