We demonstrate the magnetically-induced transparency (MIT) effect in Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$(YIG)/Permalloy(Py) coupled bilayers. The measurement is achieved via a heterodyne detection of the coupled magnetization dynamics using a single wavelength that probes the magneto-optical Kerr and Faraday effects of Py and YIG, respectively. Clear features of the MIT effect are evident from the deeply modulated ferromagnetic resonance of Py due to the perpendicular-standing-spin-wave of YIG. We develop a phenomenological model that nicely reproduces the experimental results including the induced amplitude and phase evolution caused by the magnon-magnon coupling. Our work offers a new route towards studying phase-resolved spin dynamics and hybrid magnonic systems.
Ferrimagnetic Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ (YIG) is the prototypical material for studying magnonic properties due to its exceptionally low damping. By substituting the yttrium with other rare earth elements that have a net magnetic moment, we can introduce an additional spin degree of freedom. Here, we study the magnetic coupling in epitaxial Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$/Gd$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ (YIG/GIG) heterostructures grown by pulsed laser deposition. From bulk sensitive magnetometry and surface sensitive spin Seebeck effect (SSE) and spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) measurements, we determine the alignment of the heterostructure magnetization through temperature and external magnetic field. The ferromagnetic coupling between the Fe sublattices of YIG and GIG dominates the overall behavior of the heterostructures. Due to the temperature dependent gadolinium moment, a magnetic compensation point of the total bilayer system can be identified. This compensation point shifts to lower temperatures with increasing thickness of YIG due the parallel alignment of the iron moments. We show that we can control the magnetic properties of the heterostructures by tuning the thickness of the individual layers, opening up a large playground for magnonic devices based on coupled magnetic insulators. These devices could potentially control the magnon transport analogously to electron transport in giant magnetoresistive devices.
The ultrastrong coupling of (quasi-)particles has gained considerable attention due to its application potential and richness of the underlying physics. Coupling phenomena arising due to electromagnetic interactions are well explored. In magnetically ordered systems, the quantum-mechanical exchange-interaction should furthermore enable a fundamentally different coupling mechanism. Here, we report the observation of ultrastrong intralayer exchange-enhanced magnon-magnon coupling in a compensated ferrimagnet. We experimentally study the spin dynamics in a gadolinium iron garnet single crystal using broadband ferromagnetic resonance. Close to the ferrimagnetic compensation temperature, we observe ultrastrong coupling of clockwise and anticlockwise magnon modes. The magnon-magnon coupling strength reaches more than 30% of the mode frequency and can be tuned by varying the direction of the external magnetic field. We theoretically explain the observed phenomenon in terms of an exchange-enhanced mode-coupling mediated by a weak cubic anisotropy.
Long-distance transport of spin information in insulators without long-range magnetic order has been recently reported. Here, we perform a complete characterization of amorphous Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$ (a-YIG) films grown on top of SiO$_2$. We confirm a clear amorphous structure and paramagnetic behavior of our a-YIG films, with semiconducting behavior resistivity that strongly decays with increasing temperature. The non-local transport measurements show a signal which is not compatible with spin transport and can be attributed to the drop of the a-YIG resistivity caused by Joule heating. Our results emphasize that exploring spin transport in amorphous materials requires careful procedures in order to exclude the charge contribution from the spin transport signals.
The magnetic state of heavy metal Pt thin films in proximity to the ferrimagnetic insulator Y$_{3}$Fe$_{5}$O$_{12}$ has been investigated systematically by means of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and x-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity measurements combined with angle-dependent magnetotransport studies. To reveal intermixing effects as the possible cause for induced magnetic moments in Pt, we compare thin film heterostructures with different order of the layer stacking and different interface properties. For standard Pt layers on Y$_{3}$Fe$_{5}$O$_{12}$ thin films, we do not detect any static magnetic polarization in Pt. These samples show an angle-dependent magnetoresistance behavior, which is consistent with the established spin Hall magnetoresistance. In contrast, for the inverted layer sequence, Y$_{3}$Fe$_{5}$O$_{12}$ thin films grown on Pt layers, Pt displays a finite induced magnetic moment comparable to that of all-metallic Pt/Fe bilayers. This magnetic moment is found to originate from finite intermixing at the Y$_{3}$Fe$_{5}$O$_{12}$/Pt interface. As a consequence, we found a complex angle-dependent magnetoresistance indicating a superposition of the spin Hall and the anisotropic magnetoresistance in these type of samples. Both effects can be disentangled from each other due to their different angle dependence and their characteristic temperature evolution.
The damping parameter ${alpha}_{text{FM}}$ in ferrimagnets defined by following the conventional practice for ferromagnets is known to be strongly temperature dependent and diverge at the angular momentum compensation temperature, where the net angular momentum vanishes. However, recent theoretical and experimental developments suggest that the damping parameter can be defined in such a way, which we denote by ${alpha}_{text{FiM}}$, that it is free of the diverging anomaly at the angular momentum compensation point and is little dependent of temperature. To further understand the temperature dependence of the damping parameter in ferrimagnets, we analyze several data sets from literature for gadolinium iron garnet (Gd$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$) by using the two different definitions of the damping parameter. Using two methods to estimate the individual sublattice magnetizations, which yield results consistent with each other, we found that in all the used data sets, the damping parameter ${alpha}_{text{FiM}}$ does not increase at the angular compensation temperature and shows no anomaly whereas the conventionally defined ${alpha}_{text{FM}}$ is strongly dependent on the temperature.