Manipulation of ferromagnetism with a light-driven nonlinear Edelstein-Zeeman field

Optical control of magnetization is often symmetry-forbidden because electric fields and magnetization transform differently under inversion and time-reversal. However, through even-order nonlinear response, optical excitation can generate a nonequilibrium magnetic density (the nonlinear Edelstein effect) that acts as an internal Edelstein-Zeeman field coupling to slower magnetic degrees of freedom. Here we demonstrate non-thermal, ultrafast optical control of ferromagnetism in the centrosymmetric van der Waals semiconductor Cr2Ge2Te6 via a resonant nonlinear Edelstein effect. Using time-domain THz emission spectroscopy under near-infrared excitation, we directly observe magnetic dipole radiation arising from optically driven magnetization dynamics. The polarization, fluence, and temperature dependences of the THz emission are quantitatively captured by a mean-field description of a weakly anisotropic Heisenberg ferromagnet subject to an Edelstein-Zeeman field. Our results establish a general nonequilibrium route to optical control of magnetism in centrosymmetric materials. Ultrafast non-thermal control of magnetism is a major goal of spintronics, however, in centrosymmetric materials, symmetry typically forbids direct control via electric fields. Here, Lv, Meese and coauthors use the non-linear Edelstein effect to create a non-equilibrium magnetic density in the van der Waals magnetic semiconductor Cr2Ge2Te6.