Long-range spin-wave propagation in transversely magnetized nano-scaled conduits

Abstract

Magnonics attracts increasing attention in the view of novel low-energy computation technologies based on spin waves. Recently, spin-wave propagation in longitudinally magnetized nano-scaled spin-wave conduits was demonstrated, proving the fundamental feasibility of magnonics at the sub-100 nm scale. Transversely magnetized nano-conduits, which are of great interest in this regard as they offer a large group velocity and a potentially chirality-based protected transport of energy, have not yet been investigated due to their complex internal magnetic field distribution. Here, we present a study of propagating spin waves in a transversely magnetized nanoscopic yttrium iron garnet conduit of 50 nm width. Space and time-resolved micro-focused Brillouin-light-scattering spectroscopy is employed to measure the spin-wave group velocity and decay length. A long-range spin-wave propagation is observed with a decay length of up to (8.0 ± 1.5) µm and a large spin-wave lifetime of up to (44.7 ± 9.1) ns. The results are supported with micromagnetic simulations, revealing a single-mode dispersion relation in contrast to the common formation of localized edge modes for microscopic systems. Furthermore, a frequency non-reciprocity for counter-propagating spin waves is observed in the simulations and the experiment, caused by the trapezoidal cross-section of the structure. The revealed long-distance spin-wave propagation on the nanoscale is particularly interesting for an application in spin-wave devices, allowing for long-distance transport of information in magnonic circuits, as well as novel low-energy device architectures.