633. WE-Heraeus-Seminar: Spin-Orbit Dynamics – Connecting Timescales from Nanoseconds to Femtoseconds

633. Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Seminar

Spin Orbit Dynamics
Connecting timescales from nanoseconds to femtoseconds

January 4-6, 2017, Physikzentrum Bad Honnef

generously funded by the Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Stiftung.

Spin-orbit coupling plays a central role in spin dynamics and acts as a link connecting the nano- and femtosecond time scales. For instance, in conducting multilayers of paramagnetic and magnetically ordered thin films, spin-orbit coupling enables control of the magnetization through electrical currents. These so-called spin-orbit torques are fundamentally interesting and exhibit substantial potential for future applications.

Nevertheless, the investigation of spin-orbit torques has so far concentrated on time scales much slower than the intrinsic time scale of spin-orbit coupling. In complementary studies, the femtosecond laser community investigates magnetization dynamics on the time scales of spin-orbit coupling. Central research points in this field are, for instance, spin-polarized ultrafast superdiffusive currents and spin-flip processes via Elliot-Yafet scattering. Although the fields of spin-orbit torques and femtosecond magnetization dynamics are so far quite disconnected, they both deal with the coupling of spins to light, electron currents and lattice vibrations that altogether determine the dynamical response of the magnetic material.

The goal of this seminar is to bridge the time-scale gap between the two worlds of nanosecond magneto-electronics and femtosecond magnetization dynamics by bringing together researchers from the fields of spin-orbit torques and femtosecond magnetization dynamics. The seminar aims at encouraging research that enables an understanding of the interaction of magnetic moments with electrical currents on the time scale of spin-orbit coupling.