Increasing the speed of magnetization switching is an obvious pathway to improve spintronic device performance. However, very fast magnetization switching is accompanied by instabilities. Here, Gidding et al study these instabilities using optical pumping, and show that instability generated spin-waves can achieve a high enough amplitude to drive switching of the magnetization, with a distinctive coherent pattern.
- M. Gidding
- T. Janssen
- A. Kirilyuk