Ultrafast domain-wall motion depends on symmetry

Measurements done at European XFEL showed that femtosecond optical pulses affect magnetic domains depending on their symmetry: labyrinth domains are mobile while stripe domains are virtually fixed. This observation was achieved by measuring samples with mixed states and developing a new analysis technique for 2D scattering data. This is our second editors’ suggestion on ultrafast magnetization dynamics published in Phys. Rev. B 106, 224424 (2022). Outstanding work from all the team and especially Nanna Zhou Hagström!