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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Efficient metallic spintronic emitters of ultrabroadband terahertz radiation
Yuriy MokrousovPeter M. OppeneerMartin WolfTom SeifertAlexander KronenbergEric BeaurepaireDmitry TurchinovichMathias KläuiJohn HanneganFrank FreimuthMartin JourdanMarkus MünzenbergSamridh JaiswalSamridh JaiswalJ. HenriziTobias KampfrathGerhard JakobL. M. HaydenUlrike MartensLukas BraunIlie RaduPablo Maldonadosubject
Terahertz gapMaterials scienceTerahertz radiationFOS: Physical sciencesPhysics::Optics02 engineering and technology7. Clean energy01 natural sciencesPhotomixingOpticsMesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)0103 physical sciences010306 general physicsTerahertz time-domain spectroscopyCondensed Matter - Materials ScienceSpintronicsCondensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physicsbusiness.industryFar-infrared laserMaterials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)Physik (inkl. Astronomie)021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyAtomic and Molecular Physics and Optics3. Good healthElectronic Optical and Magnetic MaterialsTerahertz spectroscopy and technologySpin Hall effectOptoelectronics0210 nano-technologybusinessdescription
Terahertz electromagnetic radiation is extremely useful for numerous applications such as imaging and spectroscopy. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have an efficient table-top emitter covering the 1-to-30-THz window whilst being driven by a low-cost, low-power femtosecond laser oscillator. So far, all solid-state emitters solely exploit physics related to the electron charge and deliver emission spectra with substantial gaps. Here, we take advantage of the electron spin to realize a conceptually new terahertz source which relies on tailored fundamental spintronic and photonic phenomena in magnetic metal multilayers: ultrafast photo-induced spin currents, the inverse spin-Hall effect and a broadband Fabry-P\'erot resonance. Guided by an analytical model, such spintronic route offers unique possibilities for systematic optimization. We find that a 5.8-nm-thick W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer generates ultrashort pulses fully covering the 1-to-30-THz range. Our novel source outperforms laser-oscillator-driven emitters such as ZnTe(110) crystals in terms of bandwidth, terahertz-field amplitude, flexibility, scalability and cost.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-01-01 |