Magnons In Yttrium Iron Garnet Research Articles

Magnon-Assisted Magnetization Reversal of Ni81Fe19 Nanostripes on Y3Fe5O12 with Different Interfaces.

Magnetic bit writing by short-wave magnons without conversion to the electrical domain is expected to be a game-changer for in-memory computing architectures. Recently, the reversal of nanomagnets by propagating magnons was demonstrated. However, experiments have not yet explored different wavelengths and the nonlinear excitation regime of magnons required for computational tasks. We report on the magnetization reversal of individual 20 nm thick Ni81Fe19 (Py) nanostripes integrated onto 113 nm thick yttrium iron garnet (YIG). We suppress direct interlayer exchange coupling by an intermediate layer, such as Cu and SiO2. By exciting magnons in YIG with wavelengths λ down to 148 nm we observe the reversal of the integrated ferromagnets in a small external field of 14 mT. Magnons with a small wavelength of λ = 195 nm, i.e., twice the width of the Py nanostripes, induced the reversal at a spin-precessional power of only about 1 nW after propagating over 15 μm in YIG. Such small power value has not been reported so far. Considerations based on dynamic dipolar coupling explain the observed wavelength dependence of the magnon-induced reversal efficiency. For an increased power, the stripes reversed in an external field of only about 1 mT. Our findings are important for the practical implementation of nonvolatile storage of broadband magnon signals in YIG by means of bistable nanomagnets without the need of an appreciable global magnetic field.

Thermal transport in yttrium iron garnet at very high magnetic fields

The ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) is one of the most important materials in the active fields of insulator-based spintronics and spin caloritronics. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that this material has been studied for over six decades, the thermal properties of magnons in YIG have not been sufficiently characterized, mainly because at not very low temperatures they are overwhelmed by the contribution of phonons. Here, we report measurements of the thermal conductivity in YIG under magnetic fields up to 31.4 T to increase the magnon energy gap, to suppress the magnon contribution, and to isolate that of the phonons relative to their behavior at zero field. We observe that at a temperature of 20 K, even with a field as large as 31.4 T, the magnon contribution is not completely suppressed. The magnon thermal conductivity, measured by subtracting the value of the total thermal conductivity at 31.4 T from the value at zero field, has a peak at 16 K, with an amplitude that is over five times larger than the one obtained by measuring under a field of only 7 T, as previously reported.

Optimal mode matching in cavity optomagnonics

Inelastic scattering of photons is a promising technique to manipulate magnons but it suffers from weak intrinsic coupling. We theoretically discuss an idea to increase optomagnonic coupling in optical whispering gallery mode cavities, by generalizing previous analysis to include the exchange interaction. We predict that the optomagnonic coupling constant to surface magnons in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres with radius $300\,\mathrm{\mu}$m can be up to $40$ times larger than that to the macrospin Kittel mode. Whereas this enhancement falls short of the requirements for magnon manipulation in YIG, nanostructuring and/or materials with larger magneto-optical constants can bridge this gap.

Microwave control of thermal-magnon spin transport

We observe that an rf microwave field strongly influences the transport of incoherent thermal magnons in yttrium iron garnet. Ferromagnetic resonance in the nonlinear regime suppresses thermal magnon transport by $95%$. The transport is also modulated at nonresonant conditions in two cases, both related to the magnon band minimum. Firstly, a strong enhancement of the nonlocal signal appears at a static magnetic field below the resonance condition. This increase only occurs at one field polarity and can be as large as $800%$. We attribute this effect to magnon kinetic processes, which give rise to band-minimum magnons and high-energy chiral surface modes. Secondly, the signal increases at a static field above the resonance condition, where the rf frequency coincides with the magnon band minimum. Our study gives insight into the interplay between coherent and incoherent spin dynamics: the rf field modifies the occupation of relevant magnon states and, via kinetic processes, the magnon spin transport.

Lateral transport properties of thermally excited magnons in yttrium iron garnet films

Spin information carried by magnons is attractive for computing technology, and the development of magnon-based computing circuits is of great interest. However, magnon transport in insulators has been challenging, different from the clear physical picture for spin transport in conductors. Here, we investigate the lateral transport properties of thermally excited magnons in yttrium iron garnet (YIG), a model magnetic insulator. Polarity reversals of detected spins in non-local geometry devices have been experimentally observed and are strongly dependent on temperature, YIG film thickness, and injector-detector separation distance. A competing two-channel transport model for thermally excited magnons is proposed, which is qualitatively consistent with the spin signal behavior. In addition to the fundamental significance for thermal magnon transport, our work furthers the development of magnonics by creating an easily accessible magnon source with controllable transport.

Influence of yttrium iron garnet thickness and heater opacity on the nonlocal transport of electrically and thermally excited magnons

We studied the nonlocal transport behavior of both electrically and thermally excited magnons in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) as a function of its thickness. For electrically injected magnons, the nonlocal signals decrease monotonically as the YIG thickness increases. For the nonlocal behavior of the thermally generated magnons, or the nonlocal spin Seebeck effect (SSE), we observed a sign reversal which occurs at a certain heater-detector distance, and it is influenced by both the opacity of the YIG/heater interface and the YIG thickness. Our nonlocal SSE results can be qualitatively explained by the bulk-driven SSE mechanism together with the magnon diffusion model. Using a two-dimensional finite element model (2D-FEM), we estimated the bulk spin Seebeck coefficient of YIG at room temperature. The quantitative disagreement between the experimental and modeled results indicates more complex processes going on in addition to magnon diffusion and relaxation, especially close to the contacts.

Rayleigh-Jeans Condensation of Pumped Magnons in Thin-Film Ferromagnets.

We show that the formation of a magnon condensate in thin ferromagnetic films can be explained within the framework of a classical stochastic non-Markovian Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation where the properties of the random magnetic field and the dissipation are determined by the underlying phonon dynamics. We have numerically solved this equation for a tangentially magnetized yttrium-iron garnet film in the presence of a parallel parametric pumping field. We obtain a complete description of all stages of the nonequilibrium time evolution of the magnon gas which is in excellent agreement with experiments. Our calculation proves that the experimentally observed condensation of magnons in yttrium-iron garnet at room temperature is a purely classical phenomenon which should be called Rayleigh-Jeans rather than Bose-Einstein condensation.

Comment on “Thermal properties of magnons in yttrium iron garnet at elevated magnetic fields”

Rezende and L\'opez Ortiz [Phys. Rev. B 91, 104416 (2015)] published a calculation for the magnon specific heat and thermal conductivity of yttrium iron garnet in the presence of large magnetic fields. The results reproduced our previous temperature-dependent measurements of both quantities in fields up to 70 kOe [Phys. Rev. B 90, 064421 (2014)]. Here, we point out that the experimentally observed magnetic-field dependence of thermal conductivity shows a faster saturation than their model explains. Furthermore, their results do not affect the main conclusion of our paper regarding the magnon thermal mean-free path.

Thermal properties of magnons in yttrium iron garnet at elevated magnetic fields

The ferrimagnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) has become an important material in the emergent field of spin caloritronics. Despite this and the fact that this material has been studied for over half a century, the thermal properties of magnons in YIG have not been sufficiently characterized, mainly because at not very low temperatures, they are overwhelmed by the contribution of phonons. Experimental attempts to characterize the magnon specific heat and thermal conductivity in YIG make use of large magnetic fields to freeze the magnon contributions and isolate those of phonons relative to their behavior at zero field. Here we present calculations of the magnon thermal properties in YIG under elevated magnetic fields using spin-wave theory. We show that at a temperature of $10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, a field of at least $300\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{kOe}$ is necessary to decrease the magnon contributions to 10% of their zero-field values. With the results of the calculations, we reinterpret recent measurements of the magnon thermal properties in YIG at temperatures up to 20 K and a field of 70 kOe, and suggest a procedure to determine their values at room temperature with the use of a field of 300 kOe.

Thermal properties of magnons and the spin Seebeck effect in yttrium iron garnet/normal metal hybrid structures

In the study of the spin Seebeck effect (SSE) in structures with a ferromagnetic insulator (FMI) in contact with a normal metal it is important to know the distributions of the temperatures of the magnon, phonon, and electron systems. Studies of the SSE in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) have relied on the thermal properties of magnons in YIG calculated with expressions valid for low temperatures. Here we present a calculation of the magnon specific heat and thermal conductivity in YIG and show that the values at room temperature are very discrepant from numbers used in the literature. With our values we calculate the temperature profiles of the magnon and phonon systems in a FMI subject to a temperature gradient in the configurations used to study the transverse and longitudinal SSE. In both cases the results are quite different from those obtained in previous studies.

On the theory of spatially inhomogeneous Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons in yttrium iron garnet

The Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of magnons created by a strong pumping in ferromagnetic thin films of yttrium iron garnet used as systems of finite size is considered analytically. Such a peculiarity, typical for this magnetic material, as the presence of a minimum in the spectrum of spin waves at a finite value of the wave vector is taken into account. The definition of high-temperature BEC is introduced and its characteristics are discussed. A role of boundary conditions for spin variables is analyzed, and it is shown that in the case of free spins on the boundary the magnon lattice can form in the system. The factors responsible for its appearance are discussed

Thermalization of magnons in yttrium-iron garnet: Nonequilibrium functional renormalization group approach

Using a nonequilibrium functional renormalization group (FRG) approach we calculate the time evolution of the momentum distribution of a magnon gas in contact with a thermal phonon bath. As a cutoff for the FRG procedure we use a hybridization parameter $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ giving rise to an artificial damping of the phonons. Within our truncation of the FRG flow equations the time evolution of the magnon distribution is obtained from a rate equation involving cutoff-dependent nonequilibrium self-energies, which in turn satisfy FRG flow equations depending on cutoff-dependent transition rates. Our approach goes beyond the Born collision approximation and takes the feedback of the magnons on the phonons into account. We use our method to calculate the thermalization of a quasi-two-dimensional magnon gas in the magnetic insulator yttrium-iron garnet after a highly excited initial state has been generated by an external microwave field. We obtain good agreement with recent experiments.