Theory of light-induced effective magnetic field in Rashba ferromagnets

Motivated by recent experiments on all-optical magnetization reversal in conductive ferromagnetic thin films we use nonequilibrium formalism to calculate the effective magnetic field induced in a Rashba ferromagnet by a short laser pulse. The main contribution to the effect originates in the direct optical transitions between spin-split subbands. The resulting effective magnetic field is inversely proportional to the impurity scattering rate and can reach the amplitude of a few Tesla in the systems like Co/Pt bilayers. We showthat the total light-induced effective magnetic field in ferromagnetic systems is the sum of two contributions: a helicity dependent term, which is an even function of magnetization, and a helicity independent term, which is an odd function of magnetization. The primary role of the spin-orbit interaction is to widen the frequency range for direct optical transitions.