Magnon Propagation Research Articles

Steerable current-driven emission of spin waves in magnetic vortex pairs.

The efficient excitation of spin waves is a key challenge in the realization of magnonic devices. We demonstrate current-driven generation of spin waves in antiferromagnetically coupled magnetic vortices. We use time-resolved x-ray microscopy to directly image the emission of spin waves upon the application of alternating currents flowing directly through the magnetic stack. Micromagnetic simulations allow us to identify the current-driven Oersted field as the main origin of excitation, in contrast to spin-transfer torques. In our case, these internal Oersted fields have an orders of magnitude higher spin-wave excitation efficiency than commonly used stripline antennas. For magnetostrictive materials, we furthermore demonstrate that the direction of magnon propagation can be steered by increasing the excitation amplitude, which modifies the underlying magnetization profile through an additional anisotropy. The demonstrated methods allow for the efficient and tunable excitation of spin waves, marking a substantial advance concerning the design of magnonic devices.

Unidirectional propagation of zero-momentum magnons

We report on experimental observation of unidirectional propagation of zero-momentum magnons in synthetic antiferromagnet consisting of strained CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB trilayer. Inherent non-reciprocity of spin waves in synthetic antiferromagnets with uniaxial anisotropy results in smooth and monotonous dispersion relation around Gamma point, where the direction of the phase velocity is reversed, while the group velocity direction is conserved. The experimental observation of this phenomenon by intensity-, phase-, and time-resolved Brillouin light scattering microscopy is corroborated by analytical models and micromagnetic simulations.

Anisotropic magnon frequency comb based on antiferromagnetic bimerons

The interaction between propagating magnons and topological spin textures is attracting a lot of recent attention from the magnonic community. It has been shown that the three-wave mixing between magnons and breathing skyrmion can induce the magnon frequency comb (MFC) with equidistant coherent peaks. However, a magnetic bimeron is a nontrivial spin texture and is regarded as the counterpart of the skyrmion in easy-plane magnets with Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, which allows anisotropic magnon propagations. This raises the question of whether the nonlinear interaction between magnons and bimerons can generate an MFC. If so, how does the direction of magnon propagation affect the characteristics of the MFC? In this Letter, we demonstrate that the three-wave mixing between propagating magnons and locally breathing bimerons can induce a terahertz MFC in easy-plane antiferromagnets. Micromagnetic simulations reveal that the three-wave coupling strength weakly depends on the driving frequency, but it strongly relies on the propagation direction of incident magnons. Our findings uncover the anisotropic nature of MFC in bimeron structures, which may have potential applications for ultrafast magnonic devices with spectroscopy, metrology, and sensing functionalities.

Sub-millimeter propagation of antiferromagnetic magnons via magnon-photon coupling

For the realization of magnon-based current-free technologies, referred to as magnonics, all-optical control of magnons is an important technique for both fundamental research and practical applications. Magnon-polariton is a coupled state of magnon and photon in a magnetic medium, expected to exhibit magnon-like controllability and photon-like high-speed propagation. While recent studies have observed magnon-polaritons as modulation of incident terahertz waves, the influence of magnon-photon coupling on magnon propagation properties remains unexplored. This study aimed to observe the spatiotemporal dynamics of coherent magnon-polaritons through time-resolved imaging measurements. BiFeO3 was selected as the sample due to its anticipated strong coupling between magnons and photons. The observed dynamics suggest that antiferromagnetic magnons can propagate over long distances, up to hundreds of micrometers, through strong coupling with photons. These results enhance our understanding of the optical control of magnonic systems, thereby paving the way for terahertz opto-magnonics.

Temperature Evolution of Magnon Propagation Length in Tm3Fe5O12 Thin Films: Roles of Magnetic Anisotropy and Gilbert Damping.

The magnon propagation length, ⟨ξ⟩, of a ferro-/ferrimagnet (FM) is one of the key factors that controls the generation and propagation of thermally driven magnonic spin current in FM/heavy metal (HM) bilayer based spincaloritronic devices. For the development of a complete physical picture of thermally driven magnon transport in FM/HM bilayers over a wide temperature range, it is of utmost importance to understand the respective roles of temperature-dependent Gilbert damping (α) and effective magnetic anisotropy (Keff) in controlling the temperature evolution of ⟨ξ⟩. Here, we report a comprehensive investigation of the temperature-dependent longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (LSSE), radio frequency transverse susceptibility, and broad-band ferromagnetic resonance measurements on Tm3Fe5O12 (TmIG)/Pt bilayers grown on different substrates. We observe a significant drop in the LSSE voltage below 200 K independent of TmIG film thickness and substrate choice. This is attributed to the noticeable increases in effective magnetic anisotropy field, HKeff (∝Keff) and α that occur within the same temperature range. From the TmIG thickness dependence of the LSSE voltage, we determined the temperature dependence of ⟨ξ⟩ and highlighted its correlation with the temperature-dependent HKeff and α in TmIG/Pt bilayers, which will be beneficial for the development of rare-earth iron garnet based efficient spincaloritronic nanodevices.

Electric Field Switching of Magnon Spin Current in a Compensated Ferrimagnet.

Manipulation of directional magnon propagation, known as magnon spin current, is essential for developing magnonic devices featuring nonvolatile functionalities and ultralow power consumption. Magnon spin current can usually be modulated by magnetic field or current-induced spin torques. However, these approaches may lead to energy dissipation due to Joule heating. Electric-field switching of magnon spin current without charge current is highly preferred but challenging to realize. By integrating magnonic and piezoelectric materials, the manipulation of the magnon spin current generated by the spin Seebeck effect in the ferrimagnetic insulator Gd3Fe5O12 (GdIG) film on a piezoelectric substrate is demonstrated. Reversible electric-field switching of magnon polarization without applied charge current is observed. Through strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling, the electric field induces the magnetic compensation transition between two magnetic states of the GdIG, resulting in its magnetization reversal and the simultaneous switching of magnon spin current. This work establishes a prototype material platform that paves the way for developing magnon logic devices characterized by all electric field reading and writing and reveals the underlying physics principles of their functions.

Unidirectional microwave transduction with chirality selected short-wavelength magnon excitations

Nonreciprocal magnon propagation has recently become a highly potential approach of developing chip-embedded microwave isolators for advanced information processing. However, it is challenging to achieve large nonreciprocity in miniaturized magnetic thin-film devices because of the difficulty of distinguishing propagating surface spin waves along the opposite directions when the film thickness is small. In this work, we experimentally realize unidirectional microwave transduction with sub-micrometer-wavelength propagating magnons in a yttrium iron garnet (YIG) thin-film delay line. We achieve a non-decaying isolation of 30 dB with a broad field-tunable bandpass frequency range up to 14 GHz. The large isolation is due to the selection of chiral magnetostatic surface spin waves with the Oersted field generated from the coplanar waveguide antenna. Increasing the geometry ratio between the antenna width and YIG thickness drastically reduces the nonreciprocity and introduces additional magnon transmission bands. Our results pave the way for on-chip microwave isolation and tunable delay line with short-wavelength magnonic excitations.

Role of SSW on thermal-gradient induced domain-wall dynamics

We study the thermal gradient (TG) induced domain wall (DW) dynamics in a uniaxial nanowire in the framework of the Stochastic-Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equation. TG drives the DW in a certain direction, and DW (linear and rotational) velocities increase with TG linearly, which can be explained by the magnonic angular momentum transfer to the DW. Interestingly, from Gilbert damping dependence of DW dynamics for fixed TG, we find that the DW velocity is significantly smaller even for lower damping, and DW velocity increases with damping (for a certain range of damping) and reaches a maximal value for critical damping which is contrary to our usual desire. This can be attributed to the formation of standing spin wave (SSW) modes (from the superposition of the spin waves and their reflection) together with travelling spin wave (TSW) modes. SSW does not carry any net energy/momentum to the DW, while TSW does. Damping α compels the spin current polarization to align with the local spin, which reduces the magnon propagation length and thus α hinders to generate SSWs, and contrarily the number of TSWs increases, which leads to the increment of DW speed with damping. For a similar reason, we observe that DW velocity increases with nanowire length and becomes saturated to maximal value for a certain length. Therefore, these findings may enhance the fundamental understanding as well as provide a way of utilizing the Joule heat in the spintronics (e.g. racetrack memory) devices.

Observation of mode splitting by magnon–magnon coupling in synthetic antiferromagnets

We investigated the coherently excited propagating magnons in in-plane magnetized synthetic antiferromagnets using heterodyne-magneto-optical Kerr effect technique. Under the in-plane magnetic field to 45° away from the magnon propagation direction, we observed the mode splitting of magnon dispersion relation due to the magnon–magnon coupling between acoustic and optical magnon modes. The strong coupling with a cooperativity of 8.4 ± 1.3 is achieved for finite wavenumber. These results provide a deep understanding of the properties of coherently excited magnons in synthetic antiferromagnets, which will be helpful for designing advanced magnonic devices.

Magnon-Fluxon Interaction in Coupled Superconductor/Ferromagnet Hybrid Periodic Structures

We study the magnon propagation in a micrometer-size ferromagnetic waveguide affected by the proximity to a superconductor that hosts a vortex formation. By solving the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations of superconductivity, we obtain the equilibrium state of the vortex configuration and the associated stray fields that act on the magnetic dynamics. Spin wave dynamics in the presence of the superconductors are inferred from the Landau-Lifschitz equation. For a quantitative comparison, the simulations are performed under the experimental conditions as reported by Dobrovolskiy et al. (Nature Physics, 15, 477 (2019)). We found that the presence of the vortex lattice leads to the formation of a Bloch-like band structure in the magnon spectrum. The width and the number of allowed bands are found to depend mainly on the in-plane component of the vortex field along the waveguide. A shift to lower energies of the lowest-order-allowed bands occurs due to the confinement of the magnonic modes above the locations of the superconductor vortices. We also studied the role of the films thickness. At least two GHz-frequency backward-volume magnetostatic spin waves modes are observed at the top and bottom surfaces (in addition to these magnetostatic surface modes, the vertical confinement can also give rise to longer-wavelength and low-frequency perpendicular standing spin waves). Effects of the vortex fields are found to depend strongly on the type of the magnon modes. It is found that the effect of the superconducting vortices of the spin waves can be emulated well by the stray fields of air-separated magnetic nanocubes of appropriate dimensions.

Acoustic attenuation in magnetic insulator films: effects of magnon polaron formation

A magnon and a phonon are the quanta of spin wave and lattice wave, respectively, and they can hybridize into a magnon polaron when their frequencies and wavenumbers match close enough the values at the exceptional point. Guided by an analytically calculated magnon polaron dispersion, dynamical phase-field simulations are performed to investigate the effects of magnon polaron formation on the attenuation of a bulk acoustic wave in a magnetic insulator film. It is shown that a stronger magnon–phonon coupling leads to a larger attenuation. The simulations also demonstrate the existence of a minimum magnon–phonon interaction time required for the magnon polaron formation, which is found to decrease with the magnetoelastic coupling coefficient but increase with the magnetic damping coefficient. These results deepen the understanding of the mechanisms of acoustic attenuation in magnetic crystals and provide insights into the design of new-concept spin interconnects that operate based on acoustically driven magnon propagation.

Topological states and quantum effects in magnonics

In recent years, with the rapid development of the emerging technologies including the internet of things, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, higher computing capability is required. Traditional semiconductor devices are confronting huge challenges brought by device miniaturization, energy consumption, heat dissipation, etc. Moore’s law which succeeds in guiding downscaling and upgrading of microelectronics is nearing its end. A new information carrier, instead of electrons, is required urgently for information transmission and processing. Spin waves are collectively excited waves in ordered magnets, and the quantized quasi particle is referred to as magnon. The propagation of magnons does not involve electron motion and produces no Joule heating, which can solve the increasing significant issues of heating dissipation in electronic devices. Thus, magnon-based devices have important application prospects in low-power information storage and computing. In this review, we first introduce the recent advances in the excitation, propagation, manipulation, detection of spin waves and magnon-based devices. Then, we mainly discuss the researches of our group. This part is described from four aspects: 1) Chiral magnonics, including the chiral propagarion of magnetostatic spin waves, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction(DMI)-induced nonreciprocity of spin waves, spin-wave propagation at chiral interface, magnonic Goos-Hänchen effect, spin-wave lens, and magnonic Stern-Gerlach effect; 2) nonlinear magnonics, including three-magnon processes induced by DMI and noncollinear magnetic textures, skyrmion-induced magnonic frequency comb, twisted magnon frequency comb, and Penrose superradiance; 3) topological magnonics, including magnon Hall effect, magnonic topological insulator, magnonic topological semimetal, topological edge states and high-order corner states of magnetic solitons arranged in different crystal lattices; 4) quantum magnonics, including quantum states of magnon, magnon-based hybrid quantum systems, and cavity magnonics. Finally, the future development and prospect of magnonics are analyzed and discussed.

Oxide magnonics: Spin waves in functional magnetic oxides

Spin waves or their quanta magnons are collective excitations in magnetically ordered materials. Magnonics have recently attracted tremendous interest for building next-generation nanoscale devices and circuits with low-power consumption. Oxide materials provide an excellent platform for achieving highly efficient spin-wave excitation and transmission for magnonic applications with versatile functionalities. In this article, we review some recent advances for oxide-based magnonics, including both magnetic oxides for hosting spin waves and non-magnetic oxides for manipulating spin waves. First, we introduce recent development on coherent propagation and incoherent transport of magnons in thin-film iron garnets, low-damping ferrimagnetic oxides widely used in magnonics. Then, we discuss spin-wave chirality due to the inversion symmetry broken in magnetic oxides. Magnonics in antiferromagnetic oxides is also presented, where the spin-wave resonance frequency enters THz regime. Nanoscale spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions, can be stabilized in magnetic oxides, and provide additional versatilities by coupling their dynamics with spin waves. Last but not the least, we highlight the electrical control of spin waves based on multiferroic oxides toward applications for hybrid magnonics.

Giant stress response of terahertz magnons in a spin-orbit Mott insulator

Magnonic devices operating at terahertz frequencies offer intriguing prospects for high-speed electronics with minimal energy dissipation However, guiding and manipulating terahertz magnons via external parameters present formidable challenges. Here we report the results of magnetic Raman scattering experiments on the antiferromagnetic spin-orbit Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 under uniaxial stress. We find that the energies of zone-center magnons are extremely stress sensitive: lattice strain of 0.1% increases the magnon energy by 40%. The magnon response is symmetric with respect to the sign of the applied stress (tensile or compressive), but depends strongly on its direction in the IrO2 planes. A theory based on coupling of the spin-orbit-entangled iridium magnetic moments to lattice distortions provides a quantitative explanation of the Raman data and a comprehensive framework for the description of magnon-lattice interactions in magnets with strong spin-orbit coupling. The possibility to efficiently manipulate the propagation of terahertz magnons via external stress opens up multifold design options for reconfigurable magnonic devices.

Magnon Dynamics in Parity-Time-Symmetric Dipolarly Coupled Waveguides and Magnonic Crystals

We consider the magnonic properties of two dipolarly coupled magnetic stripes, both deposited on a normal conductive substrate with strong spin-orbit coupling. A charge current in the substrate acts on the adjacent magnets with spin-orbit torques, which result in magnonic damping or antidamping of the spin waves, and hence a gain-loss coupling of the two magnetic stripes. The whole setup is demonstrated to exhibit features typical for parity-time- ($PT$) symmetric systems. Phenomena are demonstrated that can be functionalized in magnonic devices, including reconfigurable magnonic diodes and logic devices. Alternative stripe designs and $PT$-symmetric, periodic, coupled magnonic textures are studied. Analytical and full numerical analysis identify the conditions for the appearance of exceptional points (EPs), where magnonic gain and loss are balanced and evidence nonreciprocal magnon propagation and enhanced magnon excitation around EPs. Furthermore, the dipolar coupling is shown to bring in a wave-vector-dependent $PT$-symmetric behavior. Proposing and simulating a $PT$-symmetric magnonic crystal, we show how EPs and hence associated phenomena can be steered to a particular wave vector in a gaped spectrum via material design. The phenomena offer additional tools for magnonic based communication and computational devices.

Thermal Generation of Spin Current and Magnon Propagation Length in Compensated Ferrimagnetic Gd₃Fe₅O₁₂ Thin Films

The magnon propagation length (MPL) is one of the crucial factors to govern spin transport in a magnetic material. Here, we determine MPL ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\xi$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) in compensated ferrimagnetic Gd <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sub> (GdIG) thin films at room temperature by investigating longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (LSSE) in Gd <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Ga <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sub> (GGG)/GdIG( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t$ </tex-math></inline-formula> )/Pt (5 nm) heterostructures with different thicknesses ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) of the GdIG film. All films possess in-plane (IP) magnetic easy axis, and the compensation temperature shifts down to lower temperature with decreasing GdIG thickness. At room temperature, the LSSE signal is rather constant with thickness between <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t = 221$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 89 nm, but drops significantly below <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t = 50$ </tex-math></inline-formula> nm. By fitting the thickness dependence of the LSSE voltage to a modified atomistic spin model considering the influence of saturation magnetization, we obtain <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\xi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> = 45 nm ± 8 nm for GdIG thin films at room temperature. The MPL of GdIG is much shorter than that of Y <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sub> films ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\xi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> ~90–140 nm), but higher than that of Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> films ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\xi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> ~20 nm). The obtained value of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\xi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> explains the drop in the LSSE voltage in GdIG films when the film thickness is reduced below 50 nm, knowledge of which is also essential to the design of spincaloritronic devices based on GdIG films.

Theory of drift-enabled control in nonlocal magnon transport

Electrically injected and detected nonlocal magnon transport has emerged as a versatile method for transporting spin as well as probing the spin excitations in a magnetic insulator. We examine the role of drift currents in this phenomenon as a method for controlling the magnon propagation length. Formulating a phenomenological description, we identify the essential requirements for existence of magnon drift. Guided by this insight, we examine magnetic field gradient, asymmetric contribution to dispersion, and temperature gradient as three representative mechanisms underlying a finite magnon drift velocity, finding temperature gradient to be particularly effective.

Influence of adjacent metal films on magnon propagation in Y3Fe5O12

We studied a mechanism of magnon absorption from a magnon waveguide to adjacent metals. Magnon propagation in the yttrium-iron-garnet magnon waveguide induced/detected via coplanar waveguides was reduced by attaching metals to the magnon waveguide. In particular, the propagating magnon at the surface of the magnon waveguide was largely suppressed by attaching metal strips whereas the uniform or volume mode showed only a very slight decrease. A systematic study on the reduction of magnon propagation was performed by changing the material of metals, changing their thickness, and inserting $\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ between the magnon waveguide and metals. The reduction in magnon propagation by $\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ insertion indicated that the eddy-current contribution played a key role in magnon propagation with the magnon gate system with metal electrodes. Our study revealed the relationship between the magnon loss and metallic electrodes, which is indispensable in the fabrication of magnonic devices.

Manipulation of polarized magnon transmission in a trilayer magnonic spin valve

Tunable magnon propagation is essential for constructing magnonic devices. The magnonic spin-valve effect was recently realized in a magnetic bilayer heterostructure. Similar to a standard electronic spin valve, switching from parallel to antiparallel magnetic orientations in the bilayer achieves comparatively high and low polarized magnon transmission. Here, we propose a trilayer magnonic spin-valve structure to improve controllability over polarized magnon propagation. In addition to high and low magnon transmission, we find a medium magnon transmission behavior, where magnons from the bottom layer jump across the middle magnetic layer and land in the top layer. Coupled magnon modes in the trilayer structure give rise to the magnon transmission feature. We investigate the effects of the external magnetic field and spin-orbit torque, and we can drive a $150%$ change in the medium transmission without magnetization reversal. This effect avoids the slow reversal process and increases the trilayer valve's flexibility. These findings render the possibility of dynamically manipulable magnonic information devices with multiple output states.

Topological magnon band structure of emergent Landau levels in a skyrmion lattice.

The motion of a spin excitation across topologically nontrivial magnetic order exhibits a deflection that is analogous to the effect of the Lorentz force on an electrically charged particle in an orbital magnetic field. We used polarized inelastic neutron scattering to investigate the propagation of magnons (i.e., bosonic collective spin excitations) in a lattice of skyrmion tubes in manganese silicide. For wave vectors perpendicular to the skyrmion tubes, the magnon spectra are consistent with the formation of finely spaced emergent Landau levels that are characteristic of the fictitious magnetic field used to account for the nontrivial topological winding of the skyrmion lattice. This provides evidence of a topological magnon band structure in reciprocal space, which is borne out of the nontrivial real-space topology of a magnetic order.