We investigate magnetization states of a canted antiferromagnetic YFeO3 by using terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy under a variation of an external magnetic field. As a quasi-ferromagnetic mode near 0.3 THz is excited by the magnetic field of the THz pulse, a precession of the magnetic moment and its induction decay radiate the THz wave. Since oppositely aligned magnetic domains emit the circularly/elliptically polarized THz waves with opposite helicities, a detection of specific polarization of the THz wave shows a clear hysteresis behavior in good agreement with a magnetization curve obtained as a function of the applied magnetic field. Furthermore, time-domain measurement of excited magnetic moment can provide direct information about the magnetization decay dynamics.

Thin films of various half‐metallic ferromagnets, such as chromium dioxide (CrO2) and Heusler alloys (Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al, Co2MnSi) have been investigated by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) technique. It is demonstrated that FMR is a very efficient method to study the nanoscale magnetic properties, in particular to probe the magnetic anisotropy and magnetic inhomogeneities of ferromagnetic thin films. Epitaxial CrO2 thin films of various thicknesses (25–535 nm) have been deposited on TiO2(100) substrates by chemical vapor deposition process. It is shown that the magnetic behavior of the CrO2 films results from a competition between the magnetocrystalline and strain anisotropies. For the ultrathin CrO2 film (25 nm) the magnetic easy axis switches from the c‐direction to the b‐direction of the rutile structure. Thin‐film Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al samples (25 nm or 100 nm) have been grown by DC magnetron sputtering either on unbuffered SiO2(100) substrates or on the substrates capped by a 50 nm thick V buffer layer. The effects of the vanadium buffer layer and of the film thickness are revealed by FMR studies of the Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al samples. Well‐resolved multiple spin‐wave modes are observed in the unbuffered Co2Cr0.6Fe0.4Al sample with a thickness of 100 nm and the exchange stiffness constant has been estimated. Thin films of Co2MnSi (4–100 nm) have been grown by DC sputtering on silicon substrates on top of a 42 nm thick V seed layer and capped either by Al2O3 or by Co and V layers. A set of the 80 nm thick films has been annealed at different temperatures in the range of 425–550 °C. FMR studies of the Co2MnSi samples shows that at the fixed annealing temperature (450 °C) the highest magnetization is observed in the sample with a thickness of 61 nm, while the thicker samples (100 nm) reveal not only a lower magnetization but greater magnetic inhomogeneity as well. An annealing treatment at T ≥ 450 °C is essential to obtain higher magnetization as well as uniform magnetic properties in the Co2MnSi films. Weak SWR modes have also been observed in the thick Heusler films. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Electrical spin switching in an antiferromagnet is one of the key issues for both academic interest and industrial demand in new-type spin devices because an antiferromagnetic system has a negligible stray field due to an alternating sign between sub-lattices, in contrast to a ferromagnetic system. Naturally, questions arise regarding how fast and, simultaneously, how robustly the magnetization can be switched by external stimuli, e.g., magnetic field and spin current. First, the exploitation of ultrafast precessional motion of magnetization in antiferromagnetic oxide has been studied intensively. Regarding robustness, the so-called inertia-driven switching scenario has been generally accepted as the switching mechanism in antiferromagnet system. However, in order to understand the switching dynamics in a canted antiferromagnet, excited by magnetic field, accurate equation of motion and corresponding interpretation are necessary. Here, we re-investigate the inertia-driven switching process, triggered by the strict phase matching between effective driving field, dh/dt, and antiferromagnetic order parameters, l. Such theoretical approaches make it possible to observe the static parameters of an antiferromagnet, hosting Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction. Indeed, we estimate successfully static parameters, such as DM, exchange, and anisotropy energies, from dynamical behaviour in YFeO3, studied using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

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