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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Quantum mechanical interpretation of the ultrafast all optical spin switching
Mitsuko Murakami1, Zach Babyak1, Michael Giocolo1
1Department of Physics, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, United States of America.
None:
The all-optical spin switching induced by an intense (∼TW cm-2), near-infrared (775 nm), ultrashort (∼100 fs) circularly-polarized laser pulse is studied based on the spin-orbit coupled Heisenberg model. We find that the magnetic spin momentum undergoes an oscillation in time during the interaction with a driving laser pulse, which can be explained as a classical counterpart of the Rabi oscillation associated with a spin-orbit coupling. The optimal spin reversal is achieved by adjusting the pulse duration to one half the Rabi oscillation period. A successive spin reversal by a delayed pulse is possible if it has the opposite helicity and a shorter duration relative to the first pulse. Moreover, inclusion of an exchange interaction term in the Hamiltonian leads to a precession of the magnetic spin momentum that lasts even after the driving laser pulse turns off. This spin precession is stronger in antiferromagnets than ferrimagnets.
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