Ultrafast demagnetization of ferromagnetic transition metals: The role of the Coulomb interaction

By M. Krauss, T. Roth, Sabine Alebrand, D. Steil, M. Cinchetti, M. Aeschlimann, H. Schneider. 2009

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The Elliott-Yafet (EY) mechanism is arguably the most promising candidate to explain the light-induced ultrafast demagnetization dynamics in ferromagnetic transition metals on time scales on the order of 100 fs. So far, only electron-phonon (or impurity) scattering has been analyzed as the scattering process needed to account for the demagnetization. We show that an EY-like mechanism based on electron-electron scattering has the potential to explain time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements on thin magnetic Co and Ni films, without reference to a ``phononic spin bath.''

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/fec9d9296db001401361366b85a0c5ac7f7913db