Light-induced magnetic precession in (Ga,Mn)As slabs: Hybrid standing-wave Damon-Eshbach modes

Abstract

Coherent oscillations associated with spin precessions were observed in ultrafast optical experiments on ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As films. Using a complete theoretical description of the processes by which light couples to the magnetization, values for the anisotropy constants and the spin stiffness were unambiguously determined from the data. Estimates for the hole-Mn exchange coupling are significantly larger than those previously reported. Results also reveal an important negative contribution to the energy due to surface anisotropy leading to excitations that are a mixture of bulk waves and surface modes.