Temperature Dependence of Laser-Induced Demagnetization in Ni: A Key for Identifying the Underlying Mechanism

The microscopic mechanisms responsible for the ultrafast loss of magnetic order triggered in ferromagnetic metals by optical excitation are still under debate. One of the ongoing controversies is about the thermal origin of ultrafast demagnetization. Although different theoretical investigations support a main driving mechanism of thermal origin, alternative descriptions in terms of coherent interaction between the laser and the spin system or superdiffusive spin transport have been proposed. Another important matter of debate originates from the experimental observation of two time scales in the demagnetization dynamics of the 4f ferromagnet gadolinium. Here, it is still unclear whether it is necessary to invoke two distinct microscopic mechanisms to explain such behavior, or if one single mechanism is indeed sufficient. To uncover the physics behind these two unsolved issues, we explore the dependence of ultrafast-demagnetization dynamics in nickel through a survey of different laser intensities and ambient temperatures. Measurements in a large range of these external parameters are performed by means of the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect and display a pronounced change in the maximum loss of magnetization and in the temporal profile of the demagnetization traces. The most striking observation is that the same material system (nickel) can show a transition from a one-step (one time scale) to a two-step (two time scales) demagnetization, occurring on increasing the ambient temperature. We find that the fluence and the temperature dependence of ultrafast demagnetization-including the transition from one-step to two-step dynamics-are reproduced theoretically assuming only a single scattering mechanism coupling the spin system to the temperature of the electronic system. This finding means that the origin of ultrafast demagnetization is thermal and that only a single microscopic channel is sufficient to describe magnetization dynamics in the 3d ferromagnets on all time scales.