Journal Club do Departamento de Física dos Materiais e Mecânica

Single femtosecond optical laser pulses, of sufficient intensity, 
are demonstrated to reverse magnetization in a process known as 
all-optical switching. Gold two-wire antennas are placed on the 
all-optical switching film TbFeCo. These structures are resonant 
with the optical field, and they create a field enhancement in the 
near-field which confines the area where optical switching can occur. 
The magnetic switching that occurs around and below the antenna is 
imaged using resonant X-ray holography and magnetic circular dichroism. 
The results not only show the feasibility of controllable switching 
with antenna assistance but also demonstrate the highly inhomogeneous 
nature of the switching process, which is attributed to the process 
depending on the material’s heterogeneity.