Spin-mediated shear oscillators in a van der Waals antiferromagnet

Alfred Zong, Qi Zhang, Faran Zhou, Yifan Su, Kyle Hwangbo, Xiaozhe Shen, Qianni Jiang, Haihua Liu, Thomas E. Gage, Donald A. Walko, Michael E. Kozina, Duan Luo, Alexander H. Reid, Jie Yang, Suji Park, Saul H. Lapidus, Jiun-Haw Chu, Ilke Arslan, Xijie Wang, Di Xiao, Xiaodong Xu (), Nuh Gedik () and Haidan Wen ()
Additional contact information
Alfred Zong: University of California, Berkeley
Qi Zhang: University of Washington
Faran Zhou: Argonne National Laboratory
Yifan Su: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kyle Hwangbo: University of Washington
Xiaozhe Shen: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Qianni Jiang: University of Washington
Haihua Liu: Argonne National Laboratory
Thomas E. Gage: Argonne National Laboratory
Donald A. Walko: Argonne National Laboratory
Michael E. Kozina: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Duan Luo: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Alexander H. Reid: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Jie Yang: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Suji Park: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Saul H. Lapidus: Argonne National Laboratory
Jiun-Haw Chu: University of Washington
Ilke Arslan: Argonne National Laboratory
Xijie Wang: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Di Xiao: University of Washington
Xiaodong Xu: University of Washington
Nuh Gedik: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Haidan Wen: Argonne National Laboratory

Nature, 2023, vol. 620, issue 7976, 988-993

Abstract: Abstract Understanding how microscopic spin configuration gives rise to exotic properties at the macroscopic length scale has long been pursued in magnetic materials1–5. One seminal example is the Einstein–de Haas effect in ferromagnets1,6,7, in which angular momentum of spins can be converted into mechanical rotation of an entire object. However, for antiferromagnets without net magnetic moment, how spin ordering couples to macroscopic movement remains elusive. Here we observed a seesaw-like rotation of reciprocal lattice peaks of an antiferromagnetic nanolayer film, whose gigahertz structural resonance exhibits more than an order-of-magnitude amplification after cooling below the Néel temperature. Using a suite of ultrafast diffraction and microscopy techniques, we directly visualize this spin-driven rotation in reciprocal space at the nanoscale. This motion corresponds to interlayer shear in real space, in which individual micro-patches of the film behave as coherent oscillators that are phase-locked and shear along the same in-plane axis. Using time-resolved optical polarimetry, we further show that the enhanced mechanical response strongly correlates with ultrafast demagnetization, which releases elastic energy stored in local strain gradients to drive the oscillators. Our work not only offers the first microscopic view of spin-mediated mechanical motion of an antiferromagnet but it also identifies a new route towards realizing high-frequency resonators8,9 up to the millimetre band, so the capability of controlling magnetic states on the ultrafast timescale10–13 can be readily transferred to engineering the mechanical properties of nanodevices.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06279-y

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