Biography
Frithjof Nolting received his Diploma in Physics at the University of Braunschweig in 1994, studying heavy fermion systems at low temperatures and high pressures, and his PhD in Physics at the University of Zürich in 1998, determining the gravitational constant supervised by Prof. Walter Kündig. In 1999 he started his work on magnetism at the nanoscale joining the group of Prof. Joachim Stöhr, Stanford University, and worked at the Advanced Light Source (ALS), Berkeley, and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL). In 2001 he started working at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) and became in 2006 the group leader of the Microscopy and Magnetism group. In 2009 he was promoted to be a Titularprofessor at the University of Basel and since 2013 he is the head of the Laboratory for Condensed Matter in the Center for Photon Science.
Institutional Responsibilities
Head of the Laboratory of Condensed Matter (LSC) in the Center for Photon Science. The mission of the LSC is to perform competitive research for new materials and to provide a platform for the user community for high impact research in condensed matter and materials science based on the SLS and SwissFEL. The LSC consists of seven groups operating 5 beamlines at the SLS, 1 beamline at the SwissFEL, providing support services for the whole SLS and SwissFEL on instrumentation and undulators, and performing research on different aspects of condensed matter and materials science. Frithjof Nolting is also the deputy for SLS in the CPS, and the PSI coordinator for activities in advanced manufacturing and corresponding technology transfer activities, in particular of the technology transfer center ANAXAM.
Scientific Research
Frithjof Nolting is an international renowned expert for the study of magnetic nanoscale systems with X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM). He was member of the ALS team which pioneered the use of PEEM for the study of exchange bias systems. At the SLS, he has built up the SIM beamline and the PEEM program with several pioneering research projects such as the study of individual magnetic nanoparticles and the study of spin ice systems. Besides X-ray microscopy, he is very active in developing and using X-ray absorption spectroscopy for the study of heterostructures. He is working on interfacing magnetic nanoscale systems, where the understanding of the static and dynamic electronic and magnetic coupling of the individual subsystems is important for fundamental insights and to guide the material development. His research interests are:
• magnetic heterostructures, patterned materials and nanoparticles
• artificial multiferroics
• Opto-magnetism
• interface coupling
• magnetization dynamics
• interaction of magnetic materials with femtosecond laser pulses
• soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy and microscopy
• synchrotron instrumentation
Selected Publications
For an extensive overview we kindly refer you to our publication repository DORA .
Direct observation of the alignment of ferromagnetic spins by antiferromagnetic spins, F. Nolting, A. Scholl, J. Stöhr, J.W. Seo, J. Fompeyrine, H. Siegwart, J.-P. Locquet, S. Anders, J. Lüning, E.E. Fullerton, M.F. Toney, M.R. Scheinfein, and H.A. Padmore, Nature 405, 767 (2000).
First real space imaging of the exchange bias coupling of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic domains.
Chemical effects at metal/oxide interfaces studied by x-ray-absorption spectroscopy, T. J. Regan, H. Ohldag, C. Stamm, F. Nolting, J. Lüning, J. Stöhr, and R. L. White, Phys. Rev. B 64, 214422 (2001).
Detailed investigation of oxidation effects at interfaces, which is a highly cited paper.
Sign dependence of the x-ray magnetic linear dichroism on the antiferromagnetic spin axis in LaFeO3 thin films, S. Czekaj, F. Nolting, L.J. Heyderman, P.W. Willmott, and G. van der Laan, Phys. Rev. B. 73, 020401(R) (2006).
Discovery of the anisotropic behaviour of X-ray magnetic linear dichroism.
Size-Dependent Spin Structures in Iron Nanoparticles, A. Fraile Rodríguez, A. Kleibert, J. Bansmann, A. Voitkans, L. J. Heyderman, and F. Nolting, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 127201 (2010).
One of the first studies of individual magnetic nanoparticles with XPEEM.
Ultrafast Heating as a Sufficient Stimulus for Magnetization Reversal in a Ferrimagnet, T. A. Ostler, J. Barker, R. F. L. Evans, R. Chantrell, U. Atxitia, O. Chubykalo-Fesenko, S. El Moussaoui, L. Le Guyader, E. Mengotti, L. J. Heyderman, F. Nolting, A. Tsukamoto, A. Itoh, D. Afanasiev, B. A. Ivanov, A. M. Kalashnikova, K. Vahaplar, J. Mentink, A. Kirilyuk,Th. Rasing and A. V. Kimel, Nat. Commun. 3, 666 (2012).
First demonstration of switching of the magnetization direction due to linearly polarized femtosecond pulses.
Single domain spin manipulation by electric fields in strain coupled artificial multiferroic nanostructures, M. Buzzi, R. V. Chopdekar, J. L. Hockel, A. Bur, T. Wu, N. Pilet, P. Warnicke, G. P. Carman, L. J. Heyderman, and F. Nolting, Phys Rev. Lett. 111, 027204 (2013).
First demonstration of 90 degree switching of individual magnetic domains in artificial multiferroics.
Exploring hyper-cubic energy landscapes in thermally active finite artificial spin-ice systems, A. Farhan, P. M. Derlet, A. Kleibert, A. Balan, R. V. Chopdekar, M. Wyss, L. Anghinolfi, F. Nolting, and L. J. Heyderman, Nat. Phys. 9, 375 (2013).
First realtime imaging of the dynamics in an artificial spin ice system in collaboration with the group of Laura Heyderman.
Nanoscale sub-100 picosecond all-optical magnetization switching in GdFeCo microstructures, L. Le Guyader, M. Savoini, S.E. Moussaoui, M. Buzzi, A. Tsukamoto, A. Itoh, A. Kirilyuk, T. Rasing, A.V. Kimel, and F. Nolting, Nat. Commun. 6, 5839 (2015).
Demonstration of nanofocusing in all-optical switching.
Single-shot Monitoring of Ultrafast Processes via X-ray Streaking at a Free Electron Laser, Michele Buzzi, Mikako Makita, Ludovic Howald, Armin Kleibert, Boris Vodungbo, Pablo Maldonado, Jörg Raabe, Nicolas Jaouen, Harald Redlin, Kai Tiedtke, Peter M. Oppeneer, Christian David, Frithjof Nolting, and Jan Lüning, Scientific Reports 7, 7253 (2017).
Demonstrating of X-ray Streaking for single shot dynamics.
Single femtosecond laser pulse excitation of individual cobalt nanoparticles, Tatiana M. Savchenko, Michele Buzzi, Ludovic Howald, Sergiu Ruta, Jaianth Vijayakumar, Martin Timm, David Bracher, Susmita Saha, Peter M. Derlet, Armand Béché, Jo Verbeeck, Roy W. Chantrell, C. A. F. Vaz, Frithjof Nolting, and Armin Kleibert, Phys. Rev. B 102, 205418 (2020).
The Swiss Light Source and SwissFEL at the Paul Scherrer Institute, Frithjof Nolting, Christoph Bostedt, Thomas Schietinger, and Hans Braun, European Physical Journal Plus, 138:126 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-03721-y