SPINTRONIC TERAHERTZ EMISSION FROM SINGLE AND MULTIPLE MAGNETIC LAYERS

Abstract

Spin-charge interconversion has attracted attention in recent years as an enabling mechanism for creating novel spintronic devices. One of the promising applications is in generation of terahertz waves. To date, two dominant mechanisms for spintronic THz generation have been identified and intensively studied, they are inverse spin Hall effect and inverse Rashba–Edelstein effect. Both techniques require the use of multiple layers of magnetic and non-magnetic materials such that spin current generation and conversion occur in separate regions. In this thesis, we present the first study of THz generation based on anomalous Hall effect in both single-layer ferromagnets and synthetic antiferromagnets. In addition, we have also investigated THz emission in ferromagnet/antiferromagnet/heavy metal trilayers. We demonstrate that, in addition to providing a magnetically controllable THz source, THz emission from magnetic multilayers also serves as a powerful tool to probe magnetization reversal and spin transport in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic multilayers.