Magneto-optics articles from across Nature Portfolio

Extending topological braids of complex energy bands to non-Hermitian systems of magnons—the quanta of spin waves—is a crucial step in the development of spin-based topological devices. This has now been experimentally demonstrated.

The authors demonstrate a magnetic-field-controlled, on-off switchable non-reciprocal negative refractive index in a non-Hermitian photon-magnon hybrid system, highlighting the crucial role of non-Hermitian dynamics in advancing photonics and magnonics in quantum hybrid technologies.

NiPS3 is a van der Waals antiferromagnet with a rich optical response including an exciton of very narrow linewidth, the origin of which is still a topic of active discussion. Herein, Song, Lv and coauthors study the response of the Zhang-Rice exciton to applied magnetic fields.

Platforms enabling control over strong light–matter interactions in optical cavities provide a challenging but promising way to manipulate emergent light–matter hybrids. Spin selectivity of transitions has now been demonstrated in a two-dimensional hole gas microcavity system, paving the way towards the study of new spin physics phenomena in hybrid excitations.

Current-inducing switching of magnetization is crucial for future magnetic data processing technologies, but switching it with speed and energy efficiency remains challenging. Using femtosecond optical pulses, instead of conventional charge currents, is found to make spintronics not only ultrafast but also counterintuitive.

Non-reciprocal physical systems exhibit direction-dependent propagation of light, enabling a myriad of devices such as diodes and circulators. A new experiment demonstrates non-reciprocal amplification of light via atomic spins, driving photons on a one-way street through optical nanofibres.

Plasmonic lasers display many unique features, but these were so far unrelated to magnetism. Recent research shows that plasmonic lasers can be switched on and off magnetically.