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Using ultrashort optical pulses to couple ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order in an oxide heterostructure

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  • Y. M. Sheu

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K771, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA)

  • S. A. Trugman

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K771, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA)

  • L. Yan

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K771, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA)

  • Q. X. Jia

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K771, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA)

  • A. J. Taylor

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K771, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA)

  • R. P. Prasankumar

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K771, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA)

Abstract

A new approach to all-optical detection and control of the coupling between electric and magnetic order on ultrafast timescales is achieved using time-resolved second-harmonic generation (SHG) to study a ferroelectric (FE)/ferromagnet (FM) oxide heterostructure. We use femtosecond optical pulses to modify the spin alignment in a Ba0.1Sr0.9TiO3 (BSTO)/La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) heterostructure and selectively probe the ferroelectric response using SHG. In this heterostructure, the pump pulses photoexcite non-equilibrium quasiparticles in LCMO, which rapidly interact with phonons before undergoing spin–lattice relaxation on a timescale of tens of picoseconds. This reduces the spin–spin correlations in LCMO, applying stress on BSTO through magnetostriction. This then modifies the FE polarization through the piezoelectric effect, on a timescale much faster than laser-induced heat diffusion from LCMO to BSTO. We have thus demonstrated an ultrafast indirect magnetoelectric effect in a FE/FM heterostructure mediated through elastic coupling, with a timescale primarily governed by spin–lattice relaxation in the FM layer.

Suggested Citation

  • Y. M. Sheu & S. A. Trugman & L. Yan & Q. X. Jia & A. J. Taylor & R. P. Prasankumar, 2014. "Using ultrashort optical pulses to couple ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order in an oxide heterostructure," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6832
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6832
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