Journal Article

Dynamic signatures of spin-lattice coupling in the layered ferrimagnet Mn3Si2Te6

Griepe, Theodor, Petrovic, Cedomir, Liu, Yu, Prasankumar, Rohit P., Singamaneni, Srinivasa R., Campbell, Marshall, Atxitia, Unai, Pettes, Michael T., Santos, Elton J. G., Martinez, Luis M., Haldar, Sumit, Padmanabhan, Prashant

2025

Overview

Magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials exhibit a profound interconnectedness between their various degrees of freedom, pointing to a wealth of potential applications in low-power and high-speed spintronic devices. Recently, light-matter interactions have been leveraged as robust, dynamic pathways to gain control over the properties of vdW magnets through the use of ultrafast pulses of light. Here, we utilize ultrafast photoexcitation to drive coherent lattice oscillations in the layered ferrimagnetic crystal Mn 3 Si 2 Te 6 , which significantly stiffen below the magnetic ordering temperature. We suggest that this is due to an exchange-mediated contraction of the lattice, stemming from strong magneto-structural coupling in this material. Furthermore, simulations of the transient incoherent response uncover the critical role of the spin-mediated electronic relaxation pathways. These results underscore the importance of spin-lattice coupling in vdW magnets and demonstrate a promising strategy for their dynamic optical control via their entangled degrees of freedom.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Springer Science and Business Media LLC,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 639/301/119/1001 / 639/301/119/997 / CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY / Coupling / Crystal lattices / Degrees of freedom / Electron spin / Electrons / Ferrimagnets / Lasers / Magnetic Materials / Magnetic properties / Magnetic properties and materials / Magnetism / Magnets / MATERIALS SCIENCE / Optical control / Phase transitions / Photoexcitation / Physics / Physics and Astronomy / Quantum Information Technology / Spintronics / Temperature