Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

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

MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 38: Ultrafast Magnetization Effects II

MA 38.1: Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 15:00–15:15, POT/0361

Ultrafast light-induced spin and orbital moment in nonmagnetic band insulators from RT-TDDFT — •Andri Darmawan, Markus E. Gruner, and Rossitza Pentcheva — Department of Physics, University of Duisburg-Essen

Recently dynamical multiferroicity was predicted in SrTiO₃ as well as KTaO₃ [1-2] and subsequently observed experimentally in SrTiO₃ [3], employing THz circularly polarized pulse. This is particularly intriguing as SrTiO₃ and KTaO₃ are nonmagnetic band insulators with d⁰ occupation at Ti and Ta. Here, using real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) as implemented in the Elk code we employ optical circularly polarized laser pulses to investigate laser-induced spin and orbital moment in SrTiO₃ and KTaO₃. We study systematically the dependence on the laser parameters and find that duration and frequency of the pulse strongly influence the behavior of the light-induced spin and orbital magnetic moment in both SrTiO₃ and KTaO₃. While in SrTiO₃ the induced orbital momentum predominates, at certain frequencies KTaO₃ exhibits both substantial light-induced spin moment and orbital moment.

Funding by DFG within CRC1242 (project C02) and computational time at magnitUDE, amplitUDE are gratefully acknowledged.

[1] D. Juraschek et al., Phys. Rev. Mater. 1, 014401 (2017)

[2] R. M. Geilhufe et al., Phys. Rev. Research 3, L022011 (2021)

[3] M. Basini et al., Nature 628, 534 (2024)

Keywords: Utrafast; Magnetization; Nonmagnetic insulator