Nonlinear optics driven magnetism reorientation in semiconductors

Based on nonlinear optics, we develop a band theory to elucidate how light could manipulate magnetization, which is rooted by the quantum geometric structure and topological nature of electronic wavefunctions. Their existence are determined by the light polarization and specific material symmetry, based on the magnetic group theory. In general, both circularly and linearly polarized light could exert an effective magnetic field and torque effect, to reorient the magnetization. They are contributed by spin and orbital angular momenta simultaneously. Aided by group theory and first-principles calculations, we illustrate this theory using a showcase example of monolayer NiCl2, showing that light irradiation effectively generates an out-of-plane effective magnetic torque, which lifts its in-plane easy magnetization. According to magnetic dynamic simulations, the in-plane magnetization could be switched to the out-of-plane direction in a few nanoseconds under a modest light intensity, demonstrating its ultrafast nature desirable for quantum manipulation.