Bridging atomistic spin dynamics methods and phenomenological models of single pulse ultrafast switching in ferrimagnets

TL;DR

This paper develops a unified macrospin model that accurately captures the element-specific spin dynamics in ultrafast ferrimagnet switching, bridging atomistic simulations and phenomenological descriptions.

Contribution

It introduces a macrospin dynamical model that aligns with atomistic simulations and symmetry principles, filling a key theoretical gap.

Findings

The macrospin model agrees quantitatively with atomistic simulations.

It provides a simplified, element-specific picture of ultrafast switching.

The approach bridges microscopic and macroscopic descriptions of spin dynamics.

Abstract

We bridge an essential knowledge gap on the understanding of all-optical ultrafast switching in ferrimagnets; namely, the connection between atomistic spin dynamics methods and macroscopic phenomenological models. All-optical switching of the magnetization occurs after the application of a single femtosecond laser pulse to specific ferrimagnetic compounds. This strong excitation puts the involved degrees of freedom, electrons, lattice and spins out-of-equilibrium between each other. Atomistic spin models have quantitatively described all-optical switching in a wide range of experimental conditions, while having failed to provide a simple picture of the switching process. Phenomenological models are able to qualitatively describe the dynamics of the switching process. However, a unified theoretical framework is missing that describes the element-specific spin dynamics as atomistic spin models with the simplicity of phenomenology. Here, we bridge this gap and present an element-specific macrospin dynamical model which fully agrees with atomistic spin dynamics simulations and symmetry considerations of the phenomenological models.