Nanoscale Confinement Enhances Ultrafast Demagnetization
9 affiliations
- 1Institut für Physik und Astronomie Technische Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
- 2Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society Berlin Germany
- 3Faculty of Physics and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg‐Essen (CENIDE) University of Duisburg‐Essen Duisburg Germany
- 4Department of Physics University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- 5Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau Wildau Germany
- 6Helmholtz‐Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH Berlin Germany
- 7SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Menlo Park California USA
- 8Department of Physics TU Dortmund University Dortmund Germany
- 9Institute for Solid State Physics The University of Tokyo Kashiwa Chiba Japan
Abstract
Nanoscale miniaturization has revolutionized the field of spintronics by enabling exponential growth in areal bit density. A similar leap is also expected in device speeds through successfully harnessing femtosecond magnetization dynamics. However, combining this with the miniaturization of realistic devices is challenging. To address this, we studied the effect of dimensional confinement on the femtosecond demagnetization of Fe. By gradually increasing the level of confinement while keeping excitation conditions constant, we found that Fe layers thinner than 10 nm exhibit enlarged demagnetization amplitudes, reaching a ∼75% increase at 2 nm. By combining ultrafast experiments sensitive to the spins, the charge carriers, and the phonons, we establish that this finite‐size effect is magnetic in origin and is not phonon‐driven. With the support of ab initio calculations and atomistic spin dynamics simulations, we identify the enhancement effect as due to local weakening of spin order at the Fe's interface, which becomes significant upon increased confinement.
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BibTeX
@article{windsor2026nanoscale,
title = {{Nanoscale Confinement Enhances Ultrafast Demagnetization}},
author = {Yoav William Windsor and Tobias Lojewski and Moumita Kundu and Klaus Sokolowski‐Tinten and Nico Rothenbach and Andrea Eschenlohr and Markus Ernst Gruner and Katharina Ollefs and Carolin Schmitz‐Antoniak and Soma Salamon and Daniela Zahn and Laurenz Rettig and Christian Schüßler‐Langeheine and Niko Pontius and Renkai Li and Mianzhen Mo and Suji Park and Xiaoshe Shen and Stephen Weathersby and Xijie Wang and Rossitza Pentcheva and Heiko Wende and Ulrich Nowak and Uwe Bovensiepen},
journal = {Advanced Science},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1002/advs.77058},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77058},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nanoscale Confinement Enhances Ultrafast Demagnetization
AU - Yoav William Windsor
AU - Tobias Lojewski
AU - Moumita Kundu
AU - Klaus Sokolowski‐Tinten
AU - Nico Rothenbach
AU - Andrea Eschenlohr
AU - Markus Ernst Gruner
AU - Katharina Ollefs
AU - Carolin Schmitz‐Antoniak
AU - Soma Salamon
AU - Daniela Zahn
AU - Laurenz Rettig
AU - Christian Schüßler‐Langeheine
AU - Niko Pontius
AU - Renkai Li
AU - Mianzhen Mo
AU - Suji Park
AU - Xiaoshe Shen
AU - Stephen Weathersby
AU - Xijie Wang
AU - Rossitza Pentcheva
AU - Heiko Wende
AU - Ulrich Nowak
AU - Uwe Bovensiepen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/12
JO - Advanced Science
DO - 10.1002/advs.77058
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77058
AB - Nanoscale miniaturization has revolutionized the field of spintronics by enabling exponential growth in areal bit density. A similar leap is also expected in device speeds through successfully harnessing femtosecond magnetization dynamics. However, combining this with the miniaturization of realistic devices is challenging. To address this, we studied the effect of dimensional confinement on the femtosecond demagnetization of Fe. By gradually increasing the level of confinement while keeping excitation conditions constant, we found that Fe layers thinner than 10 nm exhibit enlarged demagnetization amplitudes, reaching a ∼75% increase at 2 nm. By combining ultrafast experiments sensitive to the spins, the charge carriers, and the phonons, we establish that this finite‐size effect is magnetic in origin and is not phonon‐driven. With the support of ab initio calculations and atomistic spin dynamics simulations, we identify the enhancement effect as due to local weakening of spin order at the Fe's interface, which becomes significant upon increased confinement.
SN - 2198-3844
ER -