Abstract
The spin transfer torque is a phenomenon in which angular momentum of a spin polarized electrical current entering a ferromagnet is transferred to the magnetization. The effect has opened a new research field of electrically driven magnetization dynamics in magnetic nanostructures and plays an important role in the development of a new generation of memory devices and tunable oscillators.
Optical excitations of magnetic systems by laser pulses have been a separate research field the aim of which is to explore magnetization dynamics at short timescales and enable ultrafast spintronic devices. We report the experimental observation of the optical spin transfer torque, predicted theoretically several years ago, building the bridge between these two fields of spintronics research.
In a pump-and-probe optical experiment we measure coherent spin precession in a (Ga, Mn)As ferromagnetic semiconductor excited by circularly polarized laser pulses. During the pump pulse, the spin angular momentum of photo-carriers generated by the absorbed light is transferred to the collective magnetization of the ferromagnet.
We analyse quantitatively the observed magnetization dynamics triggered by the optical spin transfer torque using independently determined micromagnetic parameters and magneto-optical coefficients of the studied (Ga, Mn)As.