Resonant spin wave excitation in magnetoplasmonic bilayers by short laser pulses

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel method for resonant optical excitation of spin waves in a noble metal/ferromagnet bilayer using a frequency comb, significantly enhancing the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect and enabling potential spintronics applications.

Contribution

It introduces a new resonant optical excitation technique for spin waves in magnetoplasmonic bilayers using frequency combs, enhancing TMOKE for spintronics.

Findings

Resonant excitation of spin waves enhances TMOKE.

Frequency comb parameters can be tuned for resonance.

Potential for optical control in spintronics systems.

Abstract

In magnetically ordered solids a static magnetic field can be generated by virtue of the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect (TMOKE). Moreover, the latter was shown to be dramatically enhanced due to the optical excitation of surface plasmons in nanostructures with relatively small optical losses. In this paper we suggest a new method of resonant optical excitations in a prototypical bilayer composed of noble metal (Au) with grating and a ferromagnet thin film of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) via frequency comb. Based on magnetization dynamics simulations we show that for the frequency comb with the parameters, chosen in resonant with spin-wave excitations of YIG, TMOKE is drastically enhanced, hinting towards possible technological applications in the optical control of spintronics systems.