Two types of all-optical magnetization switching mechanisms using femtosecond laser pulses

Abstract

Using a time-dependent electrical investigation of the all-optical switching in ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic Hall crosses via the anomalous Hall effect, intriguing insights into the rich physics underlying the all-optical switching are provided. We demonstrate that two different all-optical magnetization switching mechanisms can be distinguished; a "single pulse" switching for ferrimagnetic GdFeCo alloys, and a "two regimes" switching process for both ferrimagnetic TbCo alloys and ferromagnetic Pt/Co multilayers. We show that the latter takes place at two different time scales, and consists of a steplike helicity-independent multiple-domain formation within the first 1 ms followed by a helicity-dependent remagnetization on several tens of milliseconds.