Route to minimally dissipative switching in magnets via terahertz phonon pumping

<jats:p>Ultrafast switching of magnetic materials has been shown to be predominantly thermally driven, but excess heating limits the energy efficiency of this process. By employing atomistic spin-lattice dynamics simulations, we show that efficient coherent magnetization switching of an insulating magnet can be triggered by a THz excitation of phonons. We find that switching is driven by excitation near the <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><a:mi>P</a:mi></a:math> point of the phonon spectrum in conditions where spins typically cannot be excited and when manifold <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><b:mi>k</b:mi></b:math> phonon modes are accessible at the same frequency. Our model determines the necessary ingredients for low-dissipative switching and provides insight into THz-excited spin dynamics with a route to energy efficient ultrafast devices.</jats:p> <jats:sec> <jats:title/> <jats:supplementary-material> <jats:permissions> <jats:copyright-statement>Published by the American Physical Society</jats:copyright-statement> <jats:copyright-year>2024</jats:copyright-year> </jats:permissions> </jats:supplementary-material> </jats:sec>