Ultrafast heat-assisted magnetization dynamics in a ferrimagnetic insulator

Ultrafast laser-induced heating of ferrimagnetic iron garnet in an external magnetic field triggers magnetization precessional dynamics with a large amplitude. The dynamics is studied as a function of magnetic field, laser fluence, and sample temperature. Exploring the three-dimensional space of these parameters experimentally and computationally, we identify the conditions for which the amplitude of the precession is the largest and even achieves values sufficient for magnetic recording. We found that the range of external magnetic fields and temperatures, which corresponds to the magnetic recording, is rather narrow. Modeling the dynamics, using magnetization as a macroscopic parameter, reveals that this range of parameters is defined by the optimal height of the potential barrier separating two stable states. The barrier needs to be low enough to allow the switching but not so low that the stability of the states is lost.