  Finding an electronic transition a subtle excitation of which can launch
dramatic changes of electric, optical or magnetic properties of media is one of
the long-standing dreams in the field of photo-induced phase transitions [1-5].
Therefore the discovery of the magnetization switching only by a femtosecond
laser pulse [6-10] triggered intense discussions about mechanisms responsible
for these laser-induced changes. Here we report the experimentally revealed
selection rules on polarization and wavelengths of ultrafast photo-magnetic
recording in Co-doped garnet film and identify the workspace of the parameters
(magnetic damping, wavelength and polarization of light) allowing this effect.
The all-optical magnetic switching under both single pulse and multiple-pulse
sequences can be achieved at room temperature, in narrow spectral ranges with
light polarized either along <110> or <100> crystallographic axes of the
garnet. The revealed selection rules indicate that the excitations responsible
for the coupling of light to spins are d-electron transitions in octahedral and
tetrahedral Co-sublattices, respectively.
