Reconfiguration of magnetic domain structures of ErFeO(3) by intense terahertz free electron laser pulses

Understanding the interaction between intense terahertz (THz) electromagnetic fields and spin systems has been gaining importance in modern spintronics research as a unique pathway to realize ultrafast macroscopic magnetization control. In this work, we used intense THz pulses with pulse energies in the order of 10 mJ/pulse generated from the terahertz free electron laser (THz-FEL) to irradiate the ferromagnetic domains of ErFeO(3) single crystal. It was found that the domain shape can be locally reconfigured by irradiating the THz − FEL pulses near the domain boundary. Observed domain reconfiguration mechanism can be phenomenologically understood by the combination of depinning effect and the entropic force due to local thermal gradient exerted by terahertz irradiation. Our finding opens up a new possibility of realizing thermal-spin effects at THz frequency ranges by using THz-FEL pulses.