Optical generation of intense ultrashort magnetic pulses at the nanoscale

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to generate intense, ultrashort magnetic pulses at the nanoscale using femtosecond laser pulses on bimetallic nanorings, enabling advances in data storage and materials analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel scheme for producing strong, localized magnetic fields at the nanoscale via thermoelectric currents induced by femtosecond laser pulses.

Findings

Transient thermoelectric currents of picosecond duration are generated.

Tesla-scale magnetic fields are induced in the nanoring cavity.

The method offers a practical approach for nanoscale magnetic field generation.

Abstract

Generating, controlling, and sensing strong magnetic fields at ever shorter time and length scales is important for both fundamental solid-state physics and technological applications such as magnetic data recording. Here, we propose a scheme for producing strong ultrashort magnetic pulses localized at the nanoscale. We show that a bimetallic nanoring illuminated by femtosecond laser pulses responds with transient thermoelectric currents of picosecond duration, which in turn induce Tesla-scale magnetic fields in the ring cavity. Our method provides a practical way of generating intense nanoscale magnetic fields with great potential for materials characterization, terahertz radiation generation, and data storage applications.