Light-Induced Reorientation Transition in an Antiferromagnetic Semiconductor
Because of the lack of a net magnetic moment, antiferromagnets possess a unique robustness to external magnetic fields and are thus predicted to play an important role in future magnetic technologies. However, this robustness also makes them quite difficult to control, and the development of novel methods to manipulate these systems with external stimuli is a fundamental goal of antiferromagnetic spintronics. In this work, we report evidence for a metastable reorientation of the order parameter in an antiferromagnetic semiconductor triggered by an ultrafast quench of the equilibrium order via photoexcitation above the band gap. The metastable state forms less than 10 ps after the excitation pulse, and persists for longer than 150 ps before decaying to the ground state via thermal fluctuations. Importantly, this transition cannot be induced thermodynamically, and requires the system to be driven out of equilibrium. Broadly speaking, this phenomenology is ultimately the result of large magnetoelastic coupling in combination with a relatively low symmetry of the magnetic ground state. Since neither of these properties are particularly uncommon in magnetic materials, the observations presented here imply a generic path toward novel device technology enabled by ultrafast dynamics in antiferromagnets.
Authors
- Karna Morey
- R. H. Aguilera-del-Toro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6186-0977)
- Nuh Gedik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6394-4987)
- M. Arruabarrena
- Batyr Ilyas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5135-2378)
- Elizabeth Donoway (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5349-6682)
- Martin Rodriguez-Vega (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8929-6546)
- Anshul Kogar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6283-3601)
- Aritz Leonardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5942-2270)
- Péter Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6530-3852)
- Zongqi Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5584-0125)
- Gregory A. Fiete (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9477-0804)
- Joseph George Checkelsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-5204)
- J. Orenstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3741-6707)
- Takashi Kurumaji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2157-3727)
- Bryan T. Fichera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1888-7095)
- A. Ayuela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9611-9556)
- Alex Liebman‐Peláez
- Tianchuang Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3153-0592)
- Changmin Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8050-5428)
- Baiqing Lv
Institutions
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of the Basque Country (ES)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Material Physics Center (ES)
- Hanyang University (KR)
- Donostia International Physics Center (ES)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Universidad del Noreste (MX)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review X
- Published
- 2025-02-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevx.15.011044
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.77
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- European Commission
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Eusko Jaurlaritza
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Office of Science
- Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering