Accumulative Magnetic Switching of Ultrahigh-Density Recording Media by Circularly Polarized Light

Magnetization control of ferromagnetic materials only by circularly polarized light has received increasing attention both as a fundamental probe of the interactions of light and magnetism but also for future high-density magnetic recording technologies. Here we show that for granular FePt films designed for ultrahigh-density magnetic recording, the optical magnetic switching by circularly polarized light is an accumulative effect from multiple optical pulses. The measured results can be reproduced by a simple statistical model where the probability of switching a grain depends on the helicity of the optical pulses. We further show the deterministic switching of high-anisotropy materials by the combination of circularly polarized light and modest external magnetic fields, thus, revealing a pathway towards technological implementation.