Unraveling Femtosecond Spin and Charge Dynamics with EUV T-MOKE Spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complexities of EUV T-MOKE spectroscopy in ultrafast magnetization studies, revealing that spectral analysis can lead to misinterpretations and providing guidelines for more accurate future data analysis.

Contribution

It introduces an extended analysis method for EUV magneto-optics, emphasizing the importance of dielectric tensor behavior in interpreting ultrafast magnetization dynamics.

Findings

Non-equilibrium excitation causes rotation of dielectric tensor elements.

Time-dependent asymmetry may not reflect magnetic properties.

Guidelines for spectrally-resolved data analysis are provided.

Abstract

The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) regime has helped to elucidate some of the key processes that lead to the manipulation of magnetism on ultrafast timescales. However, as we show in this paper, the recently introduced spectrally-resolved analysis of such data can lead to surprising experimental observations, which might cause misinterpretations. Therefore, an extended analysis of the EUV magneto-optics is necessary. Via experimental determination of the dielectric tensor, we find here that the non-equilibrium excitation in an ultrafast magnetization experiment can cause a rotation of the off-diagonal element of the dielectric tensor in the complex plane. In direct consequence, the commonly analyzed magneto-optic asymmetry may show time-dependent behaviour that is not directly connected to the magnetic properties of the sample. We showcase such critical observations for the case of ultrafast magnetization dynamics in Ni, and give guidelines for the future analysis of spectrally-resolved magneto-optical data and its comparison with theory.