PUMP AND PROBE TECHNIQUES FOR SPIN-LATTICE THERMALIZATION MEASUREMENTS - THERMAL REQUIREMENTS

Pump and probe techniques with ultrafast laser pulses represent a well established tool for the measurements of electron-electron and electron-phonon thermalization processes. It is shown that expanding these techniques to magnetic systems for spin-lattice relaxation measurements requires a careful selection of the thermal characteristics of the samples. More precisely, a simulation of the thermal behavior of thin metal films heated by short laser pulses shows that film thickness and substrate thermal properties are crucial parameters.