Spatially inhomogeneous inverse Faraday effect provides tunable nonthermal excitation of exchange dominated spin waves.

We demonstrate optical nonthermal excitation of exchange dominated spin waves of different orders in a magnetophotonic crystal. The magnetophotonic structure consists of a thin magnetic film and a Bragg stack of nonmagnetic layers to provide a proper nonuniform interference pattern of the inverse Faraday effect induced by light in the magnetic layer. We found a phenomenon of the pronounced phase slippage of the inverse Faraday effect distribution when the pump wavelength is within the photonic band gap of the structure.

Faraday effect in magnetoplasmonic nanostructures with spatial modulation of magnetization.

For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, the properties of the Faraday effect are addressed in a magnetoplasmonic nanostructure with nonuniform spatial distribution of the magnetization. It is shown that the coincidence in period and phase between magnetization modulation and the field of the optical mode provides the resonant enhancement of the Faraday effect. This effect is observed for both the surface plasmon polariton and waveguide modes.

Spatially selective excitation of spin dynamics in magneto-photonic crystals by spectrally tunable ultrashort laser pulses.

In this work, we tackle the problem of the spatially selective optical excitation of spin dynamics in structures with multiple magnetic layers. The 120 fs circularly polarized laser pulses were used to launch magnetization precession in an all-dielectric magneto-photonic crystals (MPC) formed by magnetic layers sandwiched between and inside two magnetic Bragg mirrors. Optical pump-probe experiments reveal magnetization precession triggered via ultrafast inverse Faraday effect with an amplitude strongly dependent on the pump central wavelength: maxima of the amplitude are achieved for the wavelength tuned at the cavity resonance and at the edge of the photonic bandgap.

Plasmonic layer-selective all-optical switching of magnetization with nanometer resolution.

All-optical magnetization reversal with femtosecond laser pulses facilitates the fastest and least dissipative magnetic recording, but writing magnetic bits with spatial resolution better than the wavelength of light has so far been seen as a major challenge. Here, we demonstrate that a single femtosecond laser pulse of wavelength 800 nm can be used to toggle the magnetization exclusively within one of two 10-nm thick magnetic nanolayers, separated by just 80 nm, without affecting the other one. The choice of the addressed layer is enabled by the excitation of a plasmon-polariton at a targeted interface of the nanostructure, and realized merely by rotating the polarization-axis of the linearly-polarized ultrashort optical pulse by 90°.

Giant peak of the Inverse Faraday effect in the band gap of magnetophotonic microcavity.

Optical impact on the spin system in a magnetically ordered medium provides a unique possibility for local manipulation of magnetization at subpicosecond time scales. One of the mechanisms of the optical manipulation is related to the inverse Faraday effect (IFE). Usually the IFE is observed in crystals and magnetic films on a substrate.