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THz-Driven Spin Dynamics in Orthoferrites with Kramers and Non-Kramers Rare-Earth Ions

R. A. Leenders1, O. Y. Kovalenko1, Y. Saito1, N. R. Vovk1, A. V. Kimel2, and R. V. Mikhaylovskiy1,*

  • *Contact author: r.mikhaylovskiy@lancaster.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 246703 – Published 12 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ldnx-67qz

Abstract

We study the THz-driven spin dynamics of the canted antiferromagnet ErFeO3 across the spin reorientation temperatures 80–90 K. The amplitudes of the soft antiferromagnetic resonance mode are drastically enhanced by an order of magnitude in the middle of the spin reorientation temperature interval in ErFeO3. Conversely, in the phenomenologically similar magnetic system of TmFeO3, exhibiting the same phase transitions at very similar temperatures, this enhancement is not observed. We attribute this enhancement in ErFeO3 to the dynamic interaction of the iron 3d spins with the rare-earth 4f-electronic transitions of the Kramers Er3+ ions. We confirm this interpretation by comparing measurements on TmFeO3, where the non-Kramers Tm3+ electronic states do not strongly couple to the antiferromagnetic mode. Thus, our results indicate that the character of the microscopic electronic 4f states may drastically alter the ultrafast magnetic response in the materials with otherwise very similar static magnetic properties and phase diagrams.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 246703– Published 12 December, 2025
  • Received 18 October 2024
  • Revised 14 November 2025
  • Accepted 18 November 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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