Traveling surface spin-wave resonance spectroscopy using surface acoustic waves

Abstract

Coherent gigahertz-frequency surface acoustic waves (SAWs) traveling on the surface of a piezoelectric crystal can, via the magnetoelastic interaction, resonantly excite traveling surface spin waves in an adjacent thin-film ferromagnet. These excited surface spin waves, traveling with a definite in-plane wave-vector q∥ enforced by the SAW, can be detected by measuring changes in the electro-acoustical transmission of a SAW delay line. Here, we provide a demonstration that such measurements constitute a precise and quantitative technique for spin-wave spectroscopy, providing a means to determine both isotropic and anisotropic contributions to the spin-wave dispersion and damping. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this spectroscopic technique by measuring the spin-wave properties of a Ni thin film for a large range of wave vectors, |q∥| = 2.5 × 104–8 × 104 cm−1, over which anisotropic dipolar interactions vary from being negligible to quite significant.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Dec 21, 2015
Source ID
10.1063/1.4938390

Entities

People

  • D. C. Ralph
  • P. G. Gowtham
  • R. A. Buhrman
  • T. Moriyama

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Cornell University
  • Kyoto University
  • Office of Naval Research

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum spin resonance or Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy.