Time-spliced X-ray diffraction imaging of magnetism dynamics in a NdNiO₃ thin film

maging the atomic-scale dynamics of thin films is important to develop the next generation of computer technology. Coherent diffraction imaging can provide this information for other dimensionalities, but is unreliable when applied to thin-film measurements. This paper describes an approach to solving this problem using many measurements on a system that is changing in time. As an example, a demagnetization front is imaged as it sweeps through an antiferromagnetic film at twice the speed of sound, leaving a paramagnetic state in its wake. This fast switching is initiated by a midinfrared pulse tuned to the substrate. The recovered magnetization evolution then shows the potential for control of optoelectronic switching devices by driving interface lattice dynamics