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NSF National Extreme Ultrafast Science Facility (NeXUS) at OSU

NeXUS at the Ohio State University utilize ultrafast pulses of an 1 kW laser to control individual electrons and atoms in systems that are far from equilibrium. These ultrafast pulses of XUV light and soft X-rays enable researchers to study how electrons move in materials at time scales as fast as attoseconds and length scales as small as angstroms.

Artistic rendering of laser pulses interacting with CO2 molecules (source: OSU NSF-NeXUS)

Specifically, as a user group, we plan to utilize time-resolved micron-scale angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (tr-microARPES) endstation to directly probe dynamic processes, including electron and spin relaxation, the evolution of spin-momentum locked states and the dynamics of correlated states.

In addition, we plan to use time-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (tr-XMCD) endstation to capture element-specific magnetization dynamics. The attosecond pulse duration at NeXUS provides to-date the fastest time dynamics among all existing facilities in the world. Therefore, the speed of spintronic, magnetic, and photonic degrees of freedom for information storage and transfer will be revealed at unparallel time resolution. In addition, the high repetition rate at NeXUS enables fast data acquisition with high dynamic reserve. This will allow studies of exotic magnetic systems with small magnetic moments such as 2D magnets, Moiré magnetism, and Kagome antiferromagnets.

A snapshot of NSF NeXUS Facility at Ohio State (source: OSU NSF-NeXUS).

Types of measurements NeXUS system support:

Source: OSU NSF-NeXUS

MAgnetic X-raY Microscope with UHV Spectroscopy (MAXYMUS)

We plan to make use of the X-ray source from BESSYII synchrotron at Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Max Planck Institute. Specifically, the femtoslicing source at BESSYII allows optimal conditions for on-chip time-resolved scanning-transmission X-ray miscroscopy (tr-STXM). We plan to study spin-torque driven magnetic domain switching process on various magnetic and topological heterostructures.

Aerial view of BESSY II at the Wilhelm-Conrad-Röntgen Campus of HZB in Berlin Adlershof © HZB/Dirk Laubner. Image from link.
BESSY II can be visited on the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften © HZB / M. Setzpfandt. Image from link.

References: [1] Birch, M.T., Powalla, L et al., Nat Commun 13, 3035 (2022) [2] Zhou, et al. ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 4, 7, 3190–3197 (2022).

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