An international team of researchers led by Lancaster University has discovered a highly efficient mechanism for shaking magnets using very short light pulses,shorter than a trillionth of a second.

An experimental setup showing mirrors to guide and focus ultrashort light pulses onto the magnet. Image credit: Lancaster University

Their research is published in the prestigious journal Physics Review Letters.

The finding of new basic properties and phenomena in magnetic materials is essential for the development of faster and energy-efficient devices.

Using a very short electromagnetic pulse to shake the magnetization, researchers investigated its effect on the magnetization steering angle in two similar magnetic materials with different electronic orbitals. After shaking the magnet and later analysing its magnetic state, they found that interaction between orbital motion and spinning enables a 10-fold larger spin deflection by the light pulse than the one without.