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arXiv · 2002.07544

Magnetic and all-optical switching properties of amorphous Tb$_x$Co$_{100-x}$ alloys

Agne Ciuciulkaite·Kshiti Mishra·Marcos V. Moro·Ioan-Augustin Chioar·Richard M. Rowan-Robinson·Sergii Parchenko·Armin Kleibert·Bengt Lindgren·Gabriella Andersson·Carl Davies·Alexey Kimel·Marco Berritta·Peter M. Oppeneer·Andrei Kirilyuk·Vassilios Kapaklis
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Abstract

Amorphous Tb$_{x}$Co$_{100-x}$ magnetic alloys exhibit a list of intriguing properties, such as perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, high magneto-optical activity and magnetization switching using ultrashort optical pulses. Varying the Tb:Co ratio in these alloys allows for tuning properties such as the saturation magnetic moment, coercive field and the performance of the light-induced magnetization switching. In this work, we investigate the magnetic, optical and magneto-optical properties of various Tb$_{x}$Co$_{100-x}$ thin film alloy compositions. We report on the effect the choice of different seeding layers has on the structural and magnetic properties of Tb$_{x}$Co$_{100-x}$ layers. We also demonstrate that for a range of alloys, deposited on fused silica substrates, with Tb content of 24-30 at.$\%$, helicity dependent all-optical switching of magnetization can be achieved, albeit in a multi-shot framework. We explain this property to arise from the helicity-dependent laser induced magnetization on the Co sublattice due to the inverse Faraday effect. Our study provides an insight into material aspects for future potential hybrid magneto-plasmonic TbCo-based architectures.

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Agne Ciuciulkaite, Kshiti Mishra, Marcos V. Moro, Ioan-Augustin Chioar, Richard M. Rowan-Robinson, Sergii Parchenko, Armin Kleibert, Bengt Lindgren, Gabriella Andersson, Carl Davies, Alexey Kimel, Marco Berritta, Peter M. Oppeneer, Andrei Kirilyuk, Vassilios Kapaklis. 2020-02-18. Magnetic and all-optical switching properties of amorphous Tb$_x$Co$_{100-x}$ alloys. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevmaterials.4.104418

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