Three parallel algorithms for classical molecular dynamics are presented. The first assigns each processor a fixed subset of atoms; the second assigns each a fixed subset of inter-atomic forces to compute; the third assigns each a fixed spatial region. The algorithms are suitable for molecular dynamics models which can be difficult to parallelize efficiently—those with short-range forces where the neighbors of each atom change rapidly. They can be implemented on any distributed-memory parallel machine which allows for message-passing of data between independently executing processors. The algorithms are tested on a standard Lennard-Jones benchmark problem for system sizes ranging from 500 to 100,000,000 atoms on several parallel supercomputers--the nCUBE 2, Intel iPSC/860 and Paragon, and Cray T3D. Comparing the results to the fastest reported vectorized Cray Y-MP and C90 algorithm shows that the current generation of parallel machines is competitive with conventional vector supercomputers even for small problems. For large problems, the spatial algorithm achieves parallel efficiencies of 90% and a 1840-node Intel Paragon performs up to 165 faster than a single Cray C9O processor. Trade-offs between the three algorithms and guidelines for adapting them to more complex molecular dynamics simulations are also discussed.

Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics

The interaction of subpicosecond laser pulses with magnetically ordered materials has developed into a fascinating research topic in modern magnetism. From the discovery of subpicosecond demagnetization over a decade ago to the recent demonstration of magnetization reversal by a single 40 fs laser pulse, the manipulation of magnetic order by ultrashort laser pulses has become a fundamentally challenging topic with a potentially high impact for future spintronics, data storage and manipulation, and quantum computation. Understanding the underlying mechanisms implies understanding the interaction of photons with charges, spins, and lattice, and the angular momentum transfer between them. This paper will review the progress in this field of laser manipulation of magnetic order in a systematic way. Starting with a historical introduction, the interaction of light with magnetically ordered matter is discussed. By investigating metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics, the roles of nearly free electrons, charge redistributions, and spin-orbit and spin-lattice interactions can partly be separated, and effects due to heating can be distinguished from those that are not. It will be shown that there is a fundamental distinction between processes that involve the actual absorption of photons and those that do not. It turns out that for the latter, the polarization of light plays an essential role in the manipulation of the magnetic moments at the femtosecond time scale. Thus, circularly and linearly polarized pulses are shown to act as strong transient magnetic field pulses originating from the nonabsorptive inverse Faraday and inverse Cotton-Mouton effects, respectively. The recent progress in the understanding of magneto-optical effects on the femtosecond time scale together with the mentioned inverse, optomagnetic effects promises a bright future for this field of ultrafast optical manipulation of magnetic order or femtomagnetism.

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Ultrafast optical manipulation of magnetic order

Ferromagnetic materials exhibit intrinsic `easy' and `hard' directions of the magnetization. This magnetic anisotropy is, from both a technological and fundamental viewpoint one of the most important properties of magnetic materials. The magnetic anisotropy in metallic magnetic multilayers forms the subject of this review article. As individual layers in a multilayer stack become thinner, the role of interfaces and surfaces may dominate that of the bulk: this is the case in many magnetic multilayers, where a perpendicular interface contribution to the magnetic anisotropy is capable of rotating the easy magnetization direction from in the film plane to perpendicular to the film plane. In this review, we show that the (in-plane) volume and (perpendicular) interface contribution to the magnetic anisotropy have been separated into terms related to mechanical stresses, crystallographic structure and the planar shape of the films. In addition, the effect of roughness, often inherent to the deposition techniques used, has been addressed theoretically. Several techniques to prepare multilayers and to characterize their growth as well as methods to determine the magnetic anisotropy are discussed. A comprehensive survey of experimental studies on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in metallic multilayers containing Fe, Co or Ni is presented and commented on. Two major subjects of this review are the extrinsic effects of strain, roughness and interdiffusion and the intrinsic effect of the crystallographic orientation on the magnetic anisotropy. Both effects are investigated with the help of some dedicated experimental studies. The results of the orientational dependence studies are compared with ab initio calculations. Finally, the perpendicular surface anisotropy and the in-plane step anisotropy are discussed.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/59/11/002/pdf

Magnetic anisotropy in metallic multilayers

Research efforts addressing spin waves (magnons) in micro- and nanostructured ferromagnetic materials have increased tremendously in recent years. Corresponding experimental and theoretical work in magnonics faces significant challenges in that spin-wave dispersion relations are highly anisotropic and different magnetic states might be realized via, for example, the magnetic field history. At the same time, these features offer novel opportunities for wave control in solids going beyond photonics and plasmonics. In this topical review we address materials with a periodic modulation of magnetic parameters that give rise to artificially tailored band structures and allow unprecedented control of spin waves. In particular, we discuss recent achievements and perspectives of reconfigurable magnonic devices for which band structures can be reprogrammed during operation. Such characteristics might be useful for multifunctional microwave and logic devices operating over a broad frequency regime on either the macro- or nanoscale.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-8984/26/12/123202/pdf

Review and prospects of magnonic crystals and devices with reprogrammable band structure

Magnons—the quanta of spin waves—propagating in magnetic materials with wavelengths at the nanometer-scale and carrying information in the form of an angular momentum, can be used as data carriers in next-generation, nano-sized low-loss information processing systems. In this respect, artificial magnetic materials with properties periodically varied in space, known as magnonic crystals, are especially promising for controlling and manipulating the magnon currents. In this article, different approaches for the realization of static, reconfigurable, and dynamic magnonic crystals are presented along with a variety of novel wave phenomena discovered in these crystals. Special attention is devoted to the utilization of magnonic crystals for processing of analog and digital information. Magnonic crystals for data processing 2

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6463/aa6a65/pdf

Magnonic crystals for data processing

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/Au trilayers modified by Ga+ ion irradiation

The aim of the work is to study the magnetic anisotropy changes in epitaxial ultrathin Co films grown on vicinal sapphire substrates with different miscut angles. Changes of the in-plane magnetic anisotropy symmetry were deduced from magnetooptical hysteresis loops shape and angular dependence analysis of the resonance field measured in the sample plane. Two-fold and four-fold symmetry of the in-plane anisotropy was observed for different miscut angles. The experimental data are discussed taking into account the following energy contributions: (i) demagnetization; (ii) perpendicular uniaxial anisotropy (iii) and step-induced uniaxial anisotropy. Magnetic anisotropy constants are fitted to the experimental results for different miscut angles.

Magnetic anisotropy changes in ultrathin Co films grown on vicinal sapphire substrates

The thermal-driven evolution of stripe domain structures in ultrathin magnetic films is analyzed with regard to temperature dependencies of the film magnetic parameters In the vicinity of the Curie temperature or points of the spin reorientation the equilibrium stripe domain period was found to exponentially decrease with increasing temperature It is shown that the temperature dependence of the characteristic length is the key parameter controlling the domain period changes Irreversible and reversible changes of the domain period as well as the so-called inverse domain melting are discussed

Thermal-driven evolution of magnetic domain structures in ultrathin films

The photoinduced changes of the magnetization vector orientation under the optical linearly polarized irradiation (/spl lambda/=0.53 /spl mu/m and /spl lambda/=1.06 /spl mu/m) were observed in ferromagnetic films (YCa)/sub 3/(FeCoGe)/sub 5/O/sub 12/. The effect is a result of the occurrence of the photoinduced anisotropy. The phenomenologic description based only on general symmetry consideration is suggested. >

Andrzej Maziewski

Papers

Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/Au trilayers modified by Ga+ ion irradiation

Magnetic anisotropy changes in ultrathin Co films grown on vicinal sapphire substrates

Thermal-driven evolution of magnetic domain structures in ultrathin films

Photoinduced, polarization dependent changes of magnetic anisotropy in Co, Ge, Ca doped YIG films

Domain structure changes in a large pulse in-plane field