Dr. Carl Davies

As a staff scientist at HFML-FELIX, I study light-matter interactions with an emphasis on magnetic systems and ultrafast magnetization dynamics. My doctoral research (2013-2016, University of Exeter, United Kingdom) focused on the question of how to use non-uniformities to excite and steer spin waves, which is highly relevant for future data transmission and processing technologies.

Since my PhD, I primarily studied all-optical switching of magnetization on ultrafast timescales with visible and infrared light, in systems ranging from transparent dielectrics to metallic magnets. My current research at the free-electron laser facility FELIX concentrates on how lattice vibrations, when excited at resonance, can induce magnetic switching. I am also actively developing novel techniques based on external lasers synchronized to the FEL to detect how systems evolve in time when excited by infrared pulses.