Light-Induced Magnetization at the Nanoscale

Triggering and switching magnetic moments is of key importance for applications ranging from spintronics to quantum information. A noninvasive ultrafast control at the nanoscale is, however, an open challenge. Here, we propose a novel laser-based scheme for generating atomic-scale charge current loops within femtoseconds. The associated orbital magnetic moments remain ferromagnetically aligned after the laser pulses have ceased and are localized within an area that is tunable via laser parameters and can be chosen to be well below the diffraction limit of the driving laser field. The scheme relies on tuning the phase, polarization, and intensities of two copropagating Gaussian and vortex laser pulses, allowing us to control the spatial extent, direction, and strength of the atomic-scale charge current loops induced in the irradiated sample upon photon absorption. In the experiment we used He atoms driven by an ultraviolet and infrared vortex-beam laser pulses to generate current-carrying Rydberg states and test for the generated magnetic moments via dichroic effects in photoemission. Ab initio quantum dynamic simulations and analysis confirm the proposed scenario and provide a quantitative estimate of the generated local moments.