Optical control of magnetization of micron-size domains in antiferromagnetic NiO single crystals

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel optical method using Raman-induced difference-frequency generation to control and manipulate magnetization in antiferromagnetic NiO single crystals, aligning experimental results with theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a new optical technique for manipulating magnetization in antiferromagnetic materials via Raman-induced DFG, supported by experimental validation.

Findings

Successful demonstration of polarization properties of magnetic DFG in NiO

Agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions

Potential for optical control of magnetization in antiferromagnetic domains

Abstract

We propose Raman-induced collinear difference-frequency generation (DFG) as a method to manipulate dynamical magnetization. When a fundamental beam propagates along a threefold rotational axis, this coherent second-order optical process is permitted by angular momentum conservation through the rotational analogue of the Umklapp process. As a demonstration, we experimentally obtained polarization properties of collinear magnetic DFG along a [111] axis of a single crystal of antiferromagnetic NiO with micro multidomain structure, which excellently agreed with the theoretical prediction.