Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 14: PhD Focus Session: What about the lattice? Lessons from (ultrafast) magnetism

MA 14.2: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 10:20–10:50, HSZ/0002

THz-driven dynamical ferroicity in paraelectric and diamagnetic perovskites — •Martina Basini — ETH Zürich, Department of Phyisics, August-Piccard-Hoff,1, 8049, Zürich, Switzerland

The emergence of collective order in matter is among the most fundamental and intriguing phenomena in physics. In recent years, the dynamical control and creation of novel ordered states of matter not accessible in thermodynamic equilibrium have received much attention. The theoretical concept of dynamical multiferroicity has been introduced to describe the emergence of magnetization due to time-dependent electric polarization in non-ferromagnetic materials. Here, we provide experimental evidence of magnetization in the archetypal paraelectric and diamagnetic perovskites SrTiO3 and KTaO3 due to this mechanism. To induce such a magnetic response, we resonantly drive the infrared-active soft phonon mode with an intense circularly polarized terahertz electric field and detect the time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. Our findings show a new path for the control of magnetism, for example, for ultrafast magnetic switches, by coherently controlling the lattice vibrations with light.

Keywords: Dynamical Multiferroicity; Ultrafast Dynamics; Nonlinear Phononics; THz-driven magnetisation; Axial Phonons