Symmetry-dependent ultrafast manipulation of nanoscale magnetic domains
Nanna Zhou Hagström, Rahul Jangid, Meera Madhavi, Diego Turenne, Jeffrey A. Brock, Erik S. Lamb, Boyan Stoychev, Justine Schlappa, Natalia Gerasimova, Benjamin Van Kuiken, Rafael Gort, Laurent Mercadier, Loïc Le Guyader, A. Samartsev, Andreas Scherz, Giuseppe Mercurio, H. A. Dürr, Alexander H. Reid, Monika Arora, Hans T. Nembach, Justin M. Shaw, Emmanuelle Jal, Eric E. Fullerton, Mark W. Keller, Roopali Kukreja, Stefano Bonetti, T. J. Silva, Ezio Iacocca
Abstract
There are conflicting reports that ~100 femtosecond optical pumping causes ultrafast magnetic domain rearrangement. Such rearrangement implies a potential for unprecedented domain wall speeds. Ultrafast distortions in diffraction features via magnetic small angle x-ray scattering have been seen in some studies, while they have been absent in others. Here, the controversy is resolved by measuring a sample with domain-pattern symmetry varying from labyrinths to stripes. Importantly, spatial rearrangement occurs with labyrinths but not with stripes, suggesting novel and unexpected physics yet to be understood.