Imaging precessional motion of the magnetization vector

We report on imaging of three-dimensional precessional orbits of the magnet ization vector in a magnetic field by means of a time-resolved vectorial Ke rr experiment that measures all three components of the magnetization vecto r with picosecond resolution. Images of the precessional mode taken with su bmicrometer spatial resolution reveal that the dynamical excitation in this time regime roughly mirrors the symmetry of the underlying equilibrium spi n configuration and that its propagation has a non-wavelike character. Thes e results should form the basis for realistic models of the magnetization d ynamics in a largely unexplored but technologically increasingly relevant t ime scale.