The orbital Hall effect can generate currents of angular momentum more efficiently than the spin Hall effect in most metals. However, so far, it has only been understood as a steady-state phenomenon. In this theoretical study, the orbital Hall effect is extended into the time domain. We investigate the orbital angular momenta and their currents induced by a femtosecond laser pulse in a Cu nanoribbon. Our numerical simulations provide detailed insights into the laser-driven electron dynamics on ultrashort timescales with atomic resolution. The ultrafast orbital Hall effect described in this paper is consistent with the familiar pictorial representation of the static orbital Hall effect, but we also find pronounced differences between physical quantities that carry orbital angular momentum and those that carry charge. For example, there are deviations in the time series of the respective currents. This paper lays the foundations for investigating ultrafast Hall effects in confined metallic systems.

• Received 18 July 2023
• Revised 17 November 2023
• Accepted 7 February 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013208

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society