Probing ultrafast changes of spin and charge density profiles with resonant XUV magnetic reflectivity at the free-electron laser FERMI

Struct Dyn. 2017 Jul 6;4(5):055101. doi: 10.1063/1.4990650. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Abstract

We report the results of resonant magnetic XUV reflectivity experiments performed at the XUV free-electron laser FERMI. Circularly polarized XUV light with the photon energy tuned to the Fe M2,3 edge is used to measure resonant magnetic reflectivities and the corresponding Q-resolved asymmetry of a Permalloy/Ta/Permalloy trilayer film. The asymmetry exhibits ultrafast changes on 240 fs time scales upon pumping with ultrashort IR laser pulses. Depending on the value of the wavevector transfer Qz , we observe both decreasing and increasing values of the asymmetry parameter, which is attributed to ultrafast changes in the vertical spin and charge density profiles of the trilayer film.