No Arabic abstract
We present the experimental demonstration of the parallel parametric generation of spin-waves in a microscaled yttrium iron garnet waveguide with nanoscale thickness. Using Brillouin light scattering microscopy, we observe the excitation of the first and second waveguide modes generated by a stripline microwave pumping source. Micromagnetic simulations reveal the wave vector of the parametrically generated spin-waves. Based on analytical calculations, which are in excellent agreement with our experiments and simulations, we prove that the spin-wave radiation losses are the determinative term of the parametric instability threshold in this miniaturized system. The used method enables the direct excitation and amplification of nanometer spin-waves dominated by exchange interactions. Our results pave the way for integrated magnonics based on insulating nano-magnets.
We study experimentally the propagation of nanosecond spin-wave pulses in microscopic waveguides made of nanometer-thick yttrium iron garnet films. For these studies, we use micro-focus Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy, which provides the possibility to observe propagation of the pulses with high spatial and temporal resolution. We show that, for most spin-wave frequencies, dispersion leads to broadening of the pulse by several times at propagation distances of 10 micrometers. However, for certain frequency interval, the dispersion broadening is suppressed almost completely resulting in a dispersionless pulse propagation. We show that the formation of the dispersion-free region is caused by the competing effects of the dipolar and the exchange interaction, which can be controlled by the variation of the waveguide geometry. These conclusions are supported by micromagnetic simulations and analytical calculations. Our findings provide a simple solution for the implementation of high-speed magnonic systems that require undisturbed propagation of short information-carrying spin-wave pulses.
Spin-phonon interaction is an important channel for spin and energy relaxation in magnetic insulators. Understanding this interaction is critical for developing magnetic insulator-based spintronic devices. Quantifying this interaction in yttrium iron garnet (YIG), one of the most extensively investigated magnetic insulators, remains challenging because of the large number of atoms in a unit cell. Here, we report temperature-dependent and polarization-resolved Raman measurements in a YIG bulk crystal. We first classify the phonon modes based on their symmetry. We then develop a modified mean-field theory and define a symmetry-adapted parameter to quantify spin-phonon interaction in a phonon-mode specific way for the first time in YIG. Based on this improved mean-field theory, we discover a positive correlation between the spin-phonon interaction strength and the phonon frequency.
Time-resolved scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (TR-STXM) has been used for the direct imaging of spin wave dynamics in thin film yttrium iron garnet (YIG) with spatial resolution in the sub 100 nm range. Application of this x-ray transmission technique to single crystalline garnet films was achieved by extracting a lamella (13x5x0.185 $mathrm{mu m^3}$) of liquid phase epitaxy grown YIG thin film out of a gadolinium gallium garnet substrate. Spin waves in the sample were measured along the Damon-Eshbach and backward volume directions of propagation at gigahertz frequencies and with wavelengths in a range between 100~nm and 10~$mathrm{mu}$m. The results were compared to theoretical models. Here, the widely used approximate dispersion equation for dipole-exchange spin waves proved to be insufficient for describing the observed Damon-Eshbach type modes. For achieving an accurate description, we made use of the full analytical theory taking mode-hybridization effects into account.
The spin Seebeck effect (SSE) is observed in magnetic insulator|heavy metal bilayers as an inverse spin Hall effect voltage under a temperature gradient. The SSE can be detected nonlocally as well, viz. in terms of the voltage in a second metallic contact (detector) on the magnetic film, spatially separated from the first contact that is used to apply the temperature bias (injector). Magnon-polarons are hybridized lattice and spin waves in magnetic materials, generated by the magnetoelastic interaction. Kikkawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. textbf{117}, 207203 (2016)] interpreted a resonant enhancement of the local SSE in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) as a function of the magnetic field in terms of magnon-polaron formation. Here we report the observation of magnon-polarons in emph{nonlocal} magnon spin injection/detection devices for various injector-detector spacings and sample temperatures. Unexpectedly, we find that the magnon-polaron resonances can suppress rather than enhance the nonlocal SSE. Using finite element modelling we explain our observations as a competition between the SSE and spin diffusion in YIG. These results give unprecedented insights into the magnon-phonon interaction in a key magnetic material.
We report a study on the electrical properties of 19 nm thick Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) films grown by liquid phase epitaxy. The electrical conductivity and Hall coefficient are measured in the high temperature range [300,400]~K using a Van der Pauw four-point probe technique. We find that the electrical resistivity decreases exponentially with increasing temperature following an activated behavior corresponding to a band-gap of $E_gapprox 2$ eV, indicating that epitaxial YIG ultra-thin films behave as large gap semiconductor, and not as electrical insulator. The resistivity drops to about $5times 10^3$~$Omega cdot text{cm}$ at $T=400$ K. We also infer the Hall mobility, which is found to be positive ($p$-type) at 5 cm$^2$/(V$cdot$sec) and about independent of temperature. We discuss the consequence for non-local transport experiments performed on YIG at room temperature. These electrical properties are responsible for an offset voltage (independent of the in-plane field direction) whose amplitude, odd in current, grows exponentially with current due to Joule heating. These electrical properties also induce a sensitivity to the perpendicular component of the magnetic field through the Hall effect. In our lateral device, a thermoelectric offset voltage is produced by a temperature gradient along the wire direction proportional to the perpendicular component of the magnetic field (Righi-Leduc effects).