Controlling magnetism with polarized light: Non-thermal pathway uses inverse Faraday effect

https://phys.org/news/2024-07-magnetism-polarized-thermal-pathway-inverse.html

"intense non-themal laser pulses manipulate, quickly switch material's magnetization orientation... exposing ferrimagnetic iron-gadolinium alloy to circularly polarized pulses of extreme UV creates strong magnetic response depending on incoming light burst's left- or right-circular polarization... inverse Faraday effect does not rely on light absorption but provides efficient interaction between polarization and magnetism... ultrafast magnetism, spintronics, coherent magnetization control, nonlinear X-ray matter interactions"

Related: A new apparatus for analyzing partial coherence in integrated photonic networks

https://phys.org/news/2024-09-apparatus-partial-coherence-photonic-networks.html