All-optical magnetization switching by two-frequency pulses using the plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect in a magneto-plasmonic structure

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel, energy-efficient method for ultrafast all-optical magnetization switching using two-frequency pulses in a magneto-plasmonic structure, leveraging the plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect in a nano-confined waveguide.

Contribution

It introduces a magneto-optical waveguide structure that enables sub-picosecond magnetization switching via plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect, with control based on surface plasmon polariton wavelength.

Findings

Generated quasi-static magnetic fields depend on SPP wavelength.

Proposed structure achieves ultrafast magnetization switching.

Potential for energy-efficient, nano-confined optical control.

Abstract

In this Letter we study the generation of quasi-static magnetic fields by the plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect and propose a magneto-optical waveguide structure for achieving magnetization switching at sub-ps time in a nano-confined magneto-optical structure. In particular we show that the direction of the generated quasi-static field in a magneto-optical dielectric cavity side-coupled to a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide depends sensitively on the wavelength of the surface plasmon polaritions (SPP). This phenomenon could open up a new energy-efficient ultrafast method for nano-confined all-optical magnetization switching by two-frequency pulses.