  Antiferromagnetic materials have been proposed as new types of narrowband THz
spintronic devices owing to their ultrafast spin dynamics. Manipulating
coherently their spin dynamics, however, remains a key challenge that is
envisioned to be accomplished by spin-orbit torques or direct optical
excitations. Here, we demonstrate the combined generation of broadband THz
(incoherent) magnons and narrowband (coherent) magnons at 1 THz in low damping
thin films of NiO/Pt. We evidence, experimentally and through modelling, two
excitation processes of magnetization dynamics in NiO, an off-resonant
instantaneous optical spin torque and a strain-wave-induced THz torque induced
by ultrafast Pt excitation. Both phenomena lead to the emission of a THz signal
through the inverse spin Hall effect in the adjacent heavy metal layer. We
unravel the characteristic timescales of the two excitation processes found to
be < 50 fs and > 300 fs, respectively, and thus open new routes towards the
development of fast opto-spintronic devices based on antiferromagnetic
materials.

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics;Other Condensed Matter;Optics