Antiferromagnets are promising for nano-scale oscillator in a wide frequency range from gigahertz up to terahertz. Experimentally realizing antiferromagnetic moment oscillation via spin-orbit torque, however, remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the optical spin-orbit torque induced by circularly polarized laser can be used to drive free decaying oscillations with a frequency of 2 THz in metallic antiferromagnetic MnAu thin films. Due to the local inversion symmetry breaking of MnAu, ultrafast a.c. current is generated via spin-to-charge conversion, which can be detected through free-space terahertz emission. Both antiferromagnetic moments switching experiments and dynamics analyses unravel the antiferromagnetic moments, driven by optical spin-orbit torque, deviate from its equilibrium position, and oscillate back in 5 ps once optical spin-orbit torque is removed. Besides the fundamental significance, our finding opens a new route towards low-dissipation and controllable antiferromagnet-based spin-torque oscillators.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11341728 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51440-4 | DOI Listing |
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