Femtosecond single-shot imaging and control of a laser-induced first-order phase transition in HoFeO₃

Excitation of antiferromagnetic HoFeO₃ with a single 80 fs laser pulse triggers a first-order spin-reorientation phase transition. In the ultrafast kinetics of the transition one can distinguish the processes of impulsive excitation of spin precession, nucleation of the new domain and growth of the nuclei. The orientation of the...