Tracking the ultrafast motion of an antiferromagnetic order parameter

The unique functionalities of antiferromagnets offer promising routes to advance information technology. Their compensated magnetic order leads to spin resonances in the THz-regime, which suggest the possibility to coherently control antiferromagnetic (AFM) devices orders of magnitude faster than traditional electronics. However, the required time resolution, complex sublattice interactions and the relative inaccessibility of the AFM order parameter pose serious challenges to studying AFM spin dynamics. Here, we reveal the temporal evolution of an AFM order parameter directly in the time domain. We modulate the AFM order in hexagonal YMnO₃ by coherent magnon excitation and track the ensuing motion of the AFM order parameter using time-resolved optical second-harmonic generation. The dynamic symmetry reduction by the moving order parameter allows us to separate electron dynamics from spin dynamics. As transient symmetry reductions are common to coherent excitations, we have a general tool for tracking the ultrafast motion of an AFM order parameter.