We report evidence of the magnetization reversal in nanoparticles by surface acoustic waves (SAWs). The experimental system consists of isolated magnetite nanoparticles dispersed on a piezoelectric substrate. Magnetic relaxation from a saturated state becomes significantly enhanced in the presence of the SAW at a constant temperature of the substrate. The dependence of the relaxation on SAW power and frequency has been investigated. The effect is explained by the effective ac magnetic field generated by the SAW in the nanoparticles.
Voltage induced magnetization dynamics of magnetic thin films is a valuable tool to study anisotropic fields, exchange couplings, magnetization damping and spin pumping mechanism. A particularly well established technique is the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) generated by the coupling of microwave photons and magnetization eigenmodes in the GHz range. Here we review the basic concepts of the so-called acoustic ferromagnetic resonance technique (a-FMR) induced by the coupling of surface acoustic waves (SAW) and magnetization of thin films. Interestingly, additional to the benefits of the microwave excited FMR technique, the coupling between SAW and magnetization also offers fertile ground to study magnon-phonon and spin rotation couplings. We describe the in-plane magnetic field angle dependence of the a-FMR by measuring the absorption / transmission of SAW and the attenuation of SAW in the presence of rotational motion of the lattice, and show the consequent generation of spin current by acoustic spin pumping.
We investigate the modulation of optical phonons in semiconductor crystal by surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagating on the crystal surface. The SAW fields induce changes on the order of 10textsuperscript{-3} in the average Raman scattering intensity by optical phonons in Si and GaN crystals. The SAW-induced modifications in the Raman cross-section are dominated by the modulation of the optical phonon energy by the SAW strain field. In addition to this local contribution, the experiments give evidence for a weaker and non-local contribution arising from the spatial variation of the SAW strain field. The latter is attributed to the activation of optical modes with large wave vectors and, therefore, lower energies. The experimental results, which are well described by theoretical models for the two contributions, prove that optical phonons can be manipulated by SAWs with $mu$m wavelengths
We perform explicit time-dependent classical and quantum propagation of a spatially indirect exciton (SIX) driven by surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in a semiconductor heterostructure device. We model the SIX dynamics at different levels of description, from the Euler-Lagrange propagation of structureless classical particles to unitary Schrodinger propagation of an electron-hole wave packet in a mean field and to the full quantum propagation of the two-particle complex. A recently proposed beyond mean-field self-energy approach, adding internal virtual transitions to the c.m. dynamics, has been generalized to time-dependent potentials and turns out to describe very well full quantum calculations, while being orders of magnitude numerically less demanding. We show that SAW-driven SIXs are a sensitive probe of scattering potentials in the devices originating, for example, from single impurities or metallic gates, due to competing length and energy scales between the SAW elastic potential, the scattering potential, and the internal electron-hole dynamic of the SIX. Comparison between different approximations allow us to show that internal correlation of the electron-hole pair is crucial in scattering from shallow impurities, where tunneling plays a major role. On the other hand, scattering from broad potentials, i.e., with length scales exceeding the SIX Bohr radius, is well described as the classical dynamics of a pointlike SIX. Recent experiments are discussed in light of our calculations.
It has recently been demonstrated that surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can interact with superconducting qubits at the quantum level. SAW resonators in the GHz frequency range have also been found to have low loss at temperatures compatible with superconducting quantum circuits. These advances open up new possibilities to use the phonon degree of freedom to carry quantum information. In this paper, we give a description of the basic SAW components needed to develop quantum circuits, where propagating or localized SAW-phonons are used both to study basic physics and to manipulate quantum information. Using phonons instead of photons offers new possibilities which make these quantum acoustic circuits very interesting. We discuss general considerations for SAW experiments at the quantum level and describe experiments both with SAW resonators and with interaction between SAWs and a qubit. We also discuss several potential future developments.
Magnons, namely spin waves, are collective spin excitations in ferromagnets, and their control through coupling with other excitations is a key technology for future hybrid spintronic devices. Although strong coupling has been demonstrated with microwave photonic structures, an alternative approach permitting high density integration and minimized electromagnetic crosstalk is required. Here we report a planar cavity magnomechanical system, where the cavity of surface acoustic waves enhances the spatial and spectral power density to thus implement magnon-phonon coupling at room temperature. Excitation of spin-wave resonance involves significant acoustic power absorption, whereas the collective spin motion reversely exerts a back-action force on the cavity dynamics. The cavity frequency and quality-factor are significantly modified by the back-action effect, and the resultant cooperativity exceeds unity, suggesting coherent interaction between magnons and phonons. The demonstration of a chip-scale magnomechanical system paves the way to the development of novel spin-acoustic technologies for classical and quantum applications.