Observation of Magnetic Helicoidal Dichroism with Extreme Ultraviolet Light Vortices
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Observation of magnetic helicoidal dichroism with extreme ultraviolet light vortices Mauro Fanciulli∗,1, 2, y Matteo Pancaldi∗,3 Emanuele Pedersoli,3 Mekha Vimal,1 David Bresteau,1 Martin Luttmann,1 Dario De Angelis,3 PrimoˇzRebernik Ribiˇc,3 Benedikt R¨osner,4 Christian David,4 Carlo Spezzani,3 Michele Manfredda,3 Ricardo Sousa,5 Ioan-Lucian Prejbeanu,5 Laurent Vila,5 Bernard Dieny,5 Giovanni De Ninno,3, 6 Flavio Capotondi,3 Maurizio Sacchi,7, 8 and Thierry Ruchon1 1Universit´eParis-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, LIDYL, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France 2Laboratoire de Physique des Mat´eriauxet Surfaces, CY Cergy Paris Universit´e,95031 Cergy-Pontoise, France 3Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy 4Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen-PSI, Switzerland 5Universit´eGrenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, Grenoble INP, IRIG-SPINTEC, 38000 Grenoble, France 6Laboratory of Quantum Optics, University of Nova Gorica, 5001 Nova Gorica, Slovenia 7Sorbonne Universit´e,CNRS, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, INSP, 75005 Paris, France 8Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, B. P. 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France We report on the experimental evidence of magnetic helicoidal dichroism, observed in the inter- action of an extreme ultraviolet vortex beam carrying orbital angular momentum with a magnetic vortex. Numerical simulations based on classical electromagnetic theory show that this dichro- ism is based on the interference of light modes with different orbital angular momenta, which are populated after the interaction between the light phase chirality and the magnetic topology. This observation gives insight into the interplay between orbital angular momentum and magnetism, and sets the framework for the development of new analytical tools to investigate ultrafast magnetization dynamics. Beyond plane waves, light beams may feature heli- photoelectron emission. The study of magnetic struc- cal wavefronts, with the Poynting vector precessing with tures is a particularly appealing case, for their practical time around the beam's propagation axis [1]. The num- importance and for the possible control of their topology. ber of intertwined helices spiralling clockwise or anti- Over the last decade, the development of highly co- clockwise defines the topological charge ` 2 Z, which is herent sources and tailored optical schemes has opened associated to the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of new possibilities for generating structured light vortices the light vortices. This is independent from their po- in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) [12{19] and x-ray [20{ larization state, which instead is associated to a spin 25] regimes, paving the way to their spectroscopic appli- angular momentum (SAM) [2]. OAM light beams are cations. In this context, magnetic helicoidal dichroism nowadays harnessed for an ever increasing scope of ap- (MHD) has been recently predicted [36], in analogy to plications covering different fields from microscopy [3{5] the SAM dependent magnetic circular dichroism (MCD). and biology [6, 7], to telecommunications [8, 9] and quan- Upon interaction (reflection or transmission) of a pure tum technologies [10, 11]. Vortex beams also play a role Laguerre-Gaussian mode of topological charge ` with a in spectroscopy, where the coupling between the OAM magnetic surface, MHD consists in an intensity redistri- and the internal degrees of freedom of atoms, atomic bution into all modes ` + n in the outgoing beam, where ions or molecules has been exploited to transfer OAM to n represents all the azimuthal decomposition coefficients these species [26{29], and to enhance enantiomeric sensi- of the magnetic structure topological symmetry. [36]. tivity [30, 31]. Also, a rich variety of examples arises for Differently from MCD, MHD is sensitive to the overall the investigation and manipulation of topologically com- topology of the spin texture, it vanishes for homogeneous plex objects such as chiral magnetic structures [32] and structures, and is not self-similar if one inverts either the skyrmions [33{35]. In the same way as tuning the wave- helicity of the beam or the magnetization direction. length is used to achieve chemical contrast, or tuning Among a great variety of magnetic structures in two arXiv:2103.13697v1 [physics.optics] 25 Mar 2021 the polarization to achieve magnetic contrast, control- [37] or three dimensions [38], magnetic vortices (MV) ling the OAM state of a vortex beam has the potential to are particularly promising for technological applications provide topological contrast in systems possessing a well- [39, 40]. They can form in mesoscopic dots that are much defined handedness. This general statement can eventu- larger than their thickness, leading to an in-plane curling ally find applications in many different XUV and X-ray magnetization [41]. They have been shown to be par- based techniques, like elastic or inelastic scattering and ticularly robust against perturbations [42] and present a rich sub-nanosecond dynamics [43]. Because of their symmetry, MVs are also a particularly simple test case ∗Authors contributed equally. for MHD, since they only present n = ±1 [36]. In this letter, we report on the experimental obser- Version 1 Modified on March 26, 2021 vation of MHD by measuring the resonant scattering impinges on the center of the sample at an angle of 48◦ of XUV radiation carrying OAM from a permalloy from the normal, which is close to the Brewster extinc- (Py, Fe20Ni80) dot in MV micromagnetic configuration. tion condition, in order to enhance the magneto-optical We compare the experimental results to theoretical effects. Using a knife edge scan, we measured a spot size predictions [36] and we interpret them in terms of the of about 4 µm (full width half maximum) at the sample interference between the different ` + n modes of the plane, in agreement with previous characterizations [49]. reflected light. Our study illustrates the potential of The reflected beam is collected by a CCD camera. MHD as a new optical tool for the investigation of The samples [S1 and S2, Fig 1(d),(e)] are two iden- magnetic structures. tical and π-rotated ellipsoidal Py dots with a triangular indent, prepared on the same Si substrate. They are 80 nm thick, their short diameter is 15 µm and they are protected by a ≈ 3 nm Al layer (oxidized in air) [46]. Their exact shape was optimized by micromagnetic cal- culations [50] in order to satisfy two criteria: i) feature at remanence a single stable MV with a diameter larger than the XUV beam spot size; ii) enable the switching of the remanent vortex chirality m = ±1 by in situ appli- cation of a moderate external magnetic field pulse. The calculated remanent magnetization after a +20 mT in- plane magnetic pulse [arrow in Fig. 1(a)] shows MVs of opposite chirality for S1 and S2 [Fig. 1(d)-(e)], provid- ing a simple way of cross-checking our experimental re- sults. Reversing the magnetic pulse direction switches the chirality of both MVs. Further experimental details are given in [46]. For each sample, we evaluate the dichroic signal by switching the sign of the external magnetic field pulse before measuring at remanence, so that no mechanical FIG. 1: (a) Schematics of the experimental setup at the or optical adjustment of the setup is required, guaran- DiProI beamline, showing the incoming FEL beam with pla- teeing optimal stability in the measurement conditions. nar wavefront, a SZP that imparts OAM to the FEL beam, Also, in this way non-magnetic contributions to the scat- the sample placed between the poles of the electromagnet and tered intensity are largely suppressed from the difference the image of the scattered beam; (b) scanning electron micro- signal. Fig. 2(a)-(f) shows the experimental dichroism scope image of one SZP (` = +1); (c) far-field image of the on the intensity profile of the reflected beam for three in- interference pattern of the corresponding OAM beam and the undiffracted, OAM-free beam, featuring a spiraling intensity coming ` values and for the two samples. Details of the pattern; (d)-(e) magnetic dots S1 and S2 with corresponding data analysis are given in [46]. For sample S1, we observe remanent magnetization after applying a pulse of saturating a left-right asymmetry for ` = 0 [Fig. 2(c)], and opposite external field H~ as in (a). An opposite field reverses the re- spiral asymmetries for opposite topological charges of the manent MV chirality in both samples. OAM beam ` = ±1 [Fig. 2(a),(e)], showing the differen- tial dependence on the topological charge of the OAM The experiment was performed at the DiProI beamline beam. The measured MHD signal is of the order of 20%. [44] of the FERMI free-electron laser (FEL) [45] using the The result is reproduced in S2 [Fig. 2(b),(d),(f)], where setup sketched in Fig. 1(a). The spatially coherent close- the color pattern is reversed since the two samples always to-Gaussian FEL beam is focused on the sample by one have opposite m. This demonstrates the magnetic nature of three available silicon zone plates [46] mounted on a of the observed dichroic signal rather than possible asym- movable stage. One is a Fresnel zone plate producing metries induced by the experimental setup. It is worth a focused beam with ` = 0, the other two are spiraling noting that the symmetry relations observed in Fig. 2(a)- zone plates (SZP) that impart OAM to the beam with (f) are cancelled when the MV topology is perturbed by either ` = −1 or ` = +1. The properties of the zone applying an external magnetic field, as reported in [46]. plates are detailed in [16]. An electron microscope image In order to interpret the experimental results, we of the SZP for ` = +1 is shown in Fig. 1(b), while in (c) implemented a numerical model for MHD based on the direct image of the beam with OAM collected by a Ref.