TY - JOUR A1 - von Reppert, Alexander A1 - Mattern, Maximilian A1 - Pudell, Jan-Etienne A1 - Zeuschner, Steffen Peer A1 - Dumesnil, Karine A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Unconventional picosecond strain pulses resulting from the saturation of magnetic stress within a photoexcited rare earth layer JF - Structural Dynamics N2 - Optical excitation of spin-ordered rare earth metals triggers a complex response of the crystal lattice since expansive stresses from electron and phonon excitations compete with a contractive stress induced by spin disorder. Using ultrafast x-ray diffraction experiments, we study the layer specific strain response of a dysprosium film within a metallic heterostructure upon femtosecond laser-excitation. The elastic and diffusive transport of energy to an adjacent, non-excited detection layer clearly separates the contributions of strain pulses and thermal excitations in the time domain. We find that energy transfer processes to magnetic excitations significantly modify the observed conventional bipolar strain wave into a unipolar pulse. By modeling the spin system as a saturable energy reservoir that generates substantial contractive stress on ultrafast timescales, we can reproduce the observed strain response and estimate the time- and space dependent magnetic stress. The saturation of the magnetic stress contribution yields a non-monotonous total stress within the nanolayer, which leads to unconventional picosecond strain pulses. KW - Strain measurement KW - Photoexcitations KW - Crystal lattices KW - Femtosecond lasers KW - Thermal effects KW - Heterostructures KW - Ultrafast X-rays KW - Phonons Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5145315 SN - 2329-7778 VL - 7 IS - 024303 PB - AIP Publishing LLC CY - Melville, NY ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mattern, Maximilian A1 - Pudell, Jan-Etienne A1 - Dumesnil, Karine A1 - von Reppert, Alexander A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Towards shaping picosecond strain pulses via magnetostrictive transducers JF - Photoacoustics N2 - Using time-resolved x-ray diffraction, we demonstrate the manipulation of the picosecond strain response of a metallic heterostructure consisting of a dysprosium (Dy) transducer and a niobium (Nb) detection layer by an external magnetic field. We utilize the first-order ferromagnetic–antiferromagnetic phase transition of the Dy layer, which provides an additional large contractive stress upon laser excitation compared to its zerofield response. This enhances the laser-induced contraction of the transducer and changes the shape of the picosecond strain pulses driven in Dy and detected within the buried Nb layer. Based on our experiment with rare-earth metals we discuss required properties for functional transducers, which may allow for novel field-control of the emitted picosecond strain pulses. KW - picosecond ultrasonics KW - magnetostriction KW - ultrafast x-ray diffraction KW - ultrafast photoacoustics KW - nanoscale heat transfer KW - negative thermal expansion Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacs.2023.100463 SN - 2213-5979 VL - 30 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mattern, Maximilian A1 - von Reppert, Alexander A1 - Zeuschner, Steffen Peer A1 - Pudell, Jan-Etienne A1 - Kühne, F. A1 - Diesing, Detlef A1 - Herzog, Marc A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Electronic energy transport in nanoscale Au/Fe hetero-structures in the perspective of ultrafast lattice dynamics JF - Applied physics letters N2 - We study the ultrafast electronic transport of energy in a photoexcited nanoscale Au/Fe hetero-structure by modeling the spatiotemporal profile of energy densities that drives transient strain, which we quantify by femtosecond x-ray diffraction. This flow of energy is relevant for intrinsic demagnetization and ultrafast spin transport. We measured lattice strain for different Fe layer thicknesses ranging from few atomic layers to several nanometers and modeled the spatiotemporal flow of energy densities. The combination of a high electron-phonon coupling coefficient and a large Sommerfeld constant in Fe is found to yield electronic transfer of nearly all energy from Au to Fe within the first hundreds of femtoseconds. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0080378 SN - 0003-6951 SN - 1077-3118 VL - 120 IS - 9 PB - AIP Publishing CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mattern, Maximilian A1 - Pudell, Jan-Etienne A1 - Laskin, Gennadii A1 - Reppert, Alexander von A1 - Bargheer, Matias T1 - Analysis of the temperature- and fluence-dependent magnetic stress in laser-excited SrRuO3 JF - Structural dynamics N2 - We use ultrafast x-ray diffraction to investigate the effect of expansive phononic and contractive magnetic stress driving the picosecond strain response of a metallic perovskite SrRuO3 thin film upon femtosecond laser excitation. We exemplify how the anisotropic bulk equilibrium thermal expansion can be used to predict the response of the thin film to ultrafast deposition of energy. It is key to consider that the laterally homogeneous laser excitation changes the strain response compared to the near-equilibrium thermal expansion because the balanced in-plane stresses suppress the Poisson stress on the picosecond timescale. We find a very large negative Grüneisen constant describing the large contractive stress imposed by a small amount of energy in the spin system. The temperature and fluence dependence of the strain response for a double-pulse excitation scheme demonstrates the saturation of the magnetic stress in the high-fluence regime. KW - Thin films KW - Thermodynamic properties KW - Bragg peak KW - Ultrafast X-ray diffraction KW - Thermal effects KW - Phonons KW - Magnetism KW - Lattice dynamics KW - Lasers KW - Perovskites Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/4.0000072 SN - 2329-7778 VL - 8 IS - 2 PB - AIP Publishing LLC CY - Melville, NY ER -