Imaging Ultrafast Demagnetization Dynamics after a Spatially Localized Optical Excitation

• Ultrashort, coherent x-ray pulses of a free-electron laser are used to holographically image the magnetization dynamics within a magnetic domain pattern after creation of a localized excitation via an optical standing wave. We observe a spatially confined reduction of the magnetization within a couple of hundred femtoseconds followed by its slower recovery. Additionally, the experimental results show evidence of a spatial evolution of magnetization, which we attribute to ultrafast transport of nonequilibrium spin-polarized electrons for early times and to a fluence-dependent remagnetization rate for later times.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Atom- och molekylfysik och optik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics (hsv//eng)

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