Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet
Abstract Synthetic antiferromagnetics (SAF) provide an excellent platform for antiferromagnetic spintronics. Recently, the voltage-control of the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY) interaction in SAFs was studied experimentally. Optical control would offer unique opportunities for the ultrafast ma...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59689-z |
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| author | Meiyang Ma Jing Wu Bo Liu Lei Wang Zhuoyi Li Xuezhong Ruan Zehua Hu Fengqiu Wang Xianyang Lu Tianyu Liu Jun Du Ke Xia Yongbing Xu |
| author_facet | Meiyang Ma Jing Wu Bo Liu Lei Wang Zhuoyi Li Xuezhong Ruan Zehua Hu Fengqiu Wang Xianyang Lu Tianyu Liu Jun Du Ke Xia Yongbing Xu |
| author_sort | Meiyang Ma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Synthetic antiferromagnetics (SAF) provide an excellent platform for antiferromagnetic spintronics. Recently, the voltage-control of the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY) interaction in SAFs was studied experimentally. Optical control would offer unique opportunities for the ultrafast manipulation of spin states, however, it has yet to be demonstrated. Here, using femtosecond laser excitations in a [Co/Pt]-based perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) synthetic antiferromagnet (p-SAF), we drive a reduction of the RKKY coupling and the PMA. We attribute the reduced RKKY interaction to the optically smeared Fermi wave vector of the Ru layer, which mediates the exchange coupling between the constituent ferromagnetic layers. The PMA exhibits the same amplitude of decrease as the RKKY coupling, which we associate with electron redistributions in the 3d orbitals caused by the optically smeared Fermi level. While the pump excitation process is shown to have an influence on the modulations, thermal contributions are excluded. Our study establishes a link between the RKKY coupling and the PMA in a p-SAF structure and provides an approach to tune them in parallel. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-76df72e6bb5b4785b111f23d63d1109d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-76df72e6bb5b4785b111f23d63d1109d2025-08-20T03:07:56ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-011611810.1038/s41467-025-59689-zOptical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnetMeiyang Ma0Jing Wu1Bo Liu2Lei Wang3Zhuoyi Li4Xuezhong Ruan5Zehua Hu6Fengqiu Wang7Xianyang Lu8Tianyu Liu9Jun Du10Ke Xia11Yongbing Xu12National Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Nanjing UniversitySchool of Integrated Circuits, Guangdong University of TechnologyNational Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Nanjing UniversityKey Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Southeast UniversityNational Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Nanjing UniversityNational Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Nanjing UniversitySchool of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing UniversitySchool of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing UniversityNational Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Nanjing UniversityDepartment of Physics, Nanjing UniversityDepartment of Physics, Nanjing UniversityKey Laboratory of Quantum Materials and Devices of Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Southeast UniversityNational Key Laboratory of Spintronics, Nanjing UniversityAbstract Synthetic antiferromagnetics (SAF) provide an excellent platform for antiferromagnetic spintronics. Recently, the voltage-control of the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY) interaction in SAFs was studied experimentally. Optical control would offer unique opportunities for the ultrafast manipulation of spin states, however, it has yet to be demonstrated. Here, using femtosecond laser excitations in a [Co/Pt]-based perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) synthetic antiferromagnet (p-SAF), we drive a reduction of the RKKY coupling and the PMA. We attribute the reduced RKKY interaction to the optically smeared Fermi wave vector of the Ru layer, which mediates the exchange coupling between the constituent ferromagnetic layers. The PMA exhibits the same amplitude of decrease as the RKKY coupling, which we associate with electron redistributions in the 3d orbitals caused by the optically smeared Fermi level. While the pump excitation process is shown to have an influence on the modulations, thermal contributions are excluded. Our study establishes a link between the RKKY coupling and the PMA in a p-SAF structure and provides an approach to tune them in parallel.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59689-z |
| spellingShingle | Meiyang Ma Jing Wu Bo Liu Lei Wang Zhuoyi Li Xuezhong Ruan Zehua Hu Fengqiu Wang Xianyang Lu Tianyu Liu Jun Du Ke Xia Yongbing Xu Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet Nature Communications |
| title | Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet |
| title_full | Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet |
| title_fullStr | Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet |
| title_short | Optical control of RKKY coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet |
| title_sort | optical control of rkky coupling and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a synthetic antiferromagnet |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59689-z |
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