Microscopic theory of all-optical spin switching in ferromagnets, ferrimagnets and Laves phase C15 compounds

Growing interest in all-optical spin switching has
motivated extensively theoretical and experimental investigations (1,2).
In this presentation, we establish a new paradigm by carrying out a
massively parallel first-principles and model calculation for 13 spin
systems and magnetic layers (3,4). An inverse right-hand rule determines
the effective spin-orbit torque direction, which directly leads to
helicity-dependent switching(5,6). Helicity-independent switching can be
understood from different magnetic configurations present in a
sample. We single out the Laves phase C15 rare-earth alloys as the
next generation of all-optical switching materials (7,8).

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(5) G. P. Zhang et al. Europhys. Lett. 115, 57003 (2016).

(6) G. P. Zhang et al Mod. Phys. Lett. B 30, 1630005
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(7) M. Murakami et al. J. Phys.: Condens. Mat. 29, 184002 (2017).

(8) G. P. Zhang, Z. Babyak, and Y. Xue, Y. H. Bai and T. F. George,
Phys. Rev. B 96, 134407 (2017)