Resonance cavity-enhanced all-optical switching in a GdCo alloy absorber

In spintronic applications, there is a constant demand for lower power consumption, high densities, and fast writing speed of data storage. All-optical switching (AOS) is a technique that uses laser pulses to switch the magnetic state of a recording medium without any external devices, offering unsurpassed recording rates and a simple structure. Despite extensive research on the mechanism of AOS, low energy consumption and fast magnetization reversing remain challenging engineering questions. In this paper, we propose a newly designed cavity-enhanced AOS in GdCo alloy, which promotes optical absorption by twofold, leading to a 50% reduction in energy consumption. Additionally, the time-resolved measurement shows that the time of reversing magnetization reduces at the same time. This new approach makes AOS an ideal solution for energy-effective and fast magnetic recording, paving the way for future developments in high-speed, low-power-consumption data recording devices. (c) 2023 Chinese Laser Press