Precessional damping of Fe magnetic moments in a FeNi film

We report on the element-resolved precessional dynamics of Fe magnetic moments in a homogeneous FeNi thin film. In our pump-probe experiment the magnetic system is excited by a magnetic field pulse from a stripline. The instantaneous response to the field-pulse excitation is monitored as a function of time in a stroboscopic measurement using element-selective x-ray resonant magnetic scattering (XRMS). Our data show that Fe and Ni moments are aligned parallel to each other at all times, while they oscillate around the effective field direction given by the step field pulse and applied bias field. The field dependence of the precessional motion and damping of Fe magnetic moments is analysed and compared with time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (tr-MOKE) measurement data from the literature, showing good agreement. Additional studies prove the capability of our setup to conduct temperature-dependent studies. In the case of the presented FeNi system no changes in the frequency or damping behaviour are observed within a temperature range of 150-350 K.