Abstract
The spin-lattice relaxation time is the characteristic time needed for the energy transfer between the lattice and the spin system. It is demonstrated that can be determined with laser-induced spin-polarized photoemission. Upper and lower limits are derived from a single-pulse experiment using pulses of various time durations. It is found that of iron is shorter than 20 ns but longer than 30 ps. A direct measurement of is possible with a pump-probe experiment. One laser pulse heats the sample and a second time-delayed pulse is used to probe the magnetic state. is found to be 100±80 ps for ferromagnetic gadolinium.
- Received 13 January 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.5280
©1992 American Physical Society