Terahertz-Driven Nonlinear Spin Response of Antiferromagnetic Nickel Oxide

Phys Rev Lett. 2016 Nov 4;117(19):197201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.197201. Epub 2016 Nov 1.

Abstract

Terahertz magnetic fields with amplitudes of up to 0.4 Tesla drive magnon resonances in nickel oxide while the induced dynamics is recorded by femtosecond magneto-optical probing. We observe distinct spin-mediated optical nonlinearities, including oscillations at the second harmonic of the 1 THz magnon mode. The latter originate from coherent dynamics of the longitudinal component of the antiferromagnetic order parameter, which are probed by magneto-optical effects of second order in the spin deflection. These observations allow us to dynamically disentangle electronic from lattice-related contributions to magnetic linear birefringence and dichroism-information so far only accessible by ultrafast THz spin control. The nonlinearities discussed here foreshadow physics that will become essential in future subcycle spin switching.