Spin wave dynamics and the determination of intrinsic damping in locally excited Permalloy thin films

Time-resolved scanning Kerr effect microscopy has been used to study magnetization dynamics in Permalloy thin films excited by transient magnetic pulses generated by a micrometer-scale transmission line structure. The results are consistent with magnetostatic spin wave theory and are supported by micromagnetic simulations. Magnetostatic volume and surface spin waves are measured for the same specimen using different bias field orientations and can be accurately calculated by k-space integrations over all excited plane wave components. A single damping constant of Gilbert form is sufficient to describe both scenarios. The nonuniform pulsed field plays a key role in the spin wave dynamics, with its Fourier transform serving as a weighting function for the participating modes. The intrinsic Gilbert damping parameter alpha is most conveniently measured when the spin waves are effectively stationary.     

Calculations of localized modes on surface and impurity layer embedded in a semi-infinite Heisenberg ferromagnet

We investigate the magnetic excitations for the magnetic problem arising from the absence of magnetic translation symmetry in one dimension due to the presence of an impurity layer embedded within a semi-infinite ferromagnet. A Heisenberg model is employed to investigate the possibility that localized modes can occur with an impurity layer implanted within a semi-infinite ferromagnet. No electronic effects are considered. The theoretical approach employs the matching procedure in the mean field approximation and determines the propagating and evanescent spin amplitude fields including the contribution due to an applied field. The results are used to calculate the energies of localized modes associated with the impurity layer and with the surface. Numerical examples of the modes are given and they are found to exhibit various effects due to the interplay between the impurity layer and surface modes. It is shown that more localized modes can occur and the modification of the spin wave spectra can be signaled by the appearance of surface and impurity modes, besides the bulk excitations. Also, the bulk spin fluctuations field, the spin waves localized on the surface as well as on impurity layer depend are shown to depend on the nature of the exchange coupling between spin sites, the values of spin sites and the position of the impurity layer from the surface.     

Reflection and scattering of spin waves by surface roughness of a ferromagnet

Abstract

A detailed theory of volume spin wave reflection from the randomly rough surface of a ferromagnet is presented. The contribution to damping of the reflected wave is calculated. This contribution is due to the scattering of the initial volume wave into secondary surface and volume spin waves. The value of damping is proportional to the correlation length and the square of the roughness amplitude. Numerical calculations of the attenuation rate as a function of the angle of incidence and the ratio between the surface anisotropy and the wavenumber are provided. They yield the angle of incidence where the attenuation has a maximum. In analogy to optics, this angle is similar to the Brewster angle. Numerical estimations of damping and a comparison of its value with the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth are also made. Finally, the results of the calculation of the scattering of surface exchange spin waves by surface roughness are presented and discussed.     

Spatial dynamics of hybrid electromagnetic spin waves in a lateral multiferroic microwaveguide

Regimes of the formation of spatial structures at the propagation of hybrid electromagnetic spin waves in a system of laterally coupled multiferroics, which consist of parallel ferromagnetic microwaveguides with a ferroelectric layer, are studied experimentally and theoretically. Brillouin spectroscopy measurements at frequencies near the ferromagnetic resonance by the method of selection of mode patterns reveal a sharp increase in the spatial scales of transfer of power between microwaveguides. The calculations of the characteristics of propagation of electromagnetic spin wave in a lateral multiferroic structure with a finite width show that energy exchange between films is due to the features of intermodal coupling between waves. Higher transverse modes and electric-field-induced transformation of spectra of the electromagnetic spin waves in the adjacent multiferroics are studied experimentally and numerically.     

Tunneling states in amorphous ferromagnets

A model of an amorphous ferromagnet in which a certain number of atoms forms two-level systems is considered. Relaxation time of such systems due to the interaction with spin waves is calculated and it is shown that this time can be comparable to the phonon relaxation time. The spin wave damping in such ferromagnet is determined and the magnetic contribution to the thermal conductivity is calculated.     

The measurement of A0 and S0 lamb wave attenuation to determine the normal and shear stiffnesses of a compressively loaded interface

Guided waves in an elastic plate surrounded by air propagate with very low attenuation. This paper describes the effect on this propagation of compressively loading an elastomer with high internal damping against one surface of the elastic plate. The propagation of both A0 and S0 Lamb modes is considered. The principal effect is shown to be increased attenuation of the guided waves. This attenuation is caused by leakage of energy from the plate into the elastomer, where it is dissipated due to high viscoelastic damping. It is shown that the increase in attenuation is strongly dependent on the compressive load applied across the solid-solid interface. This interface is represented as a spring layer in a continuum model of the system. Both normal and shear stiffnesses of the interface are quantified from the attenuation of A0 and S0 Lamb waves measured at each step of the compressive loading. The normal stiffness is also measured independently by normal incidence, bulk longitudinal wave ultrasound. The resulting predictions of wave propagation behavior, such as attenuation, obtained by the model are in excellent agreement with those measured experimentally.     

Magnons in surface-rearranged ferromagnetic thin films

By a Green function approach, spin waves in a surface-rearranged ferromagnetic thin film are derived both analytically and numerically. Heisenberg exchange, bulk and surface anisotropy between nearest neighbors and external magnetic field are taken into account for an sc film with {001} surfaces. Because of the anisotropies, the dynamical matrix defined from the Green function equations is not Hermitian, so we generalize the Bogoliubov canonical transformation to derive the spin wave spectrum. The spin waves propagating inside the film result from the superposition of two sine or hyperbolic sine waves. The amplitude and polarization of spin waves are shown to be quite sensitive to the details of the surface rearrangements, whereas spin wave energies are not so sensitive to such rerrangements, except when soft modes occur in the unrearranged configuration. In that case, we show that when the surface rearrangement is taken into account, soft modes disappear in the spin wave spectrum.     

Scattering of light waves by electron electrostatic waves in laser produced plasmas

The propagation of light waves in an underdense plasma is studied using one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell numerical simulation.It is found that the light waves can be scattered by electron plasma waves as well as other heavily and weakly damping electron wave modes,corresponding to stimulated Raman and Brilluoin-like scatterings.The stimulated electron acoustic wave scattering is also observed as a high scattering level.High frequency plasma wave scattering is also observed.These electron electrostatic wave modes are due to a non-thermal electron distribution produced by the wave-particle interactions.The collision effects on stimulated electron acoustic wave and the laser intensity effects on the scattering spectra are also investigated.     

Quasi-static surface modes of plasma layer with anisotropic electron temperature

Quasi-static surface wave propagation in a plasma layer with anisotropic electron temperature is considered. The case is analyzed where the electron temperature in the direction normal to the plasma boundary is considered to be zero, while in the direction along the boundary, electrons are described by the Maxwellian velocity distribution. It is shown that the modes of such a layer are described by equations for bulk plasma waves with renormalization of the electron density affecting the surface wave dispersion and damping.     

Time-resolved measurement of propagating spin waves in ferromagnetic thin films

We measure the propagation of spatially localized spin waves in NiFe thin films through local inductive detection of the dynamic magnetization. A pulsed magnetic field excites a linear superposition of spin wave modes with a distribution that is predominantly driven by the spatial dependence of the in-plane excitation field. The results of numerical micromagnetic calculations exhibit excellent agreement with experiment and show that a comprehensive account of spatial nonuniformity and propagation is necessary to accurately measure the intrinsic damping rate.     

Spin damping correction to electrostatic modes in kinetic plasma theory

The effect of spin of particles is studied using a semi-classical kinetic theory for a magnetized plasma. No other quantum effects are included. We focus in the simple damping effects for the electrostatic wave modes. Besides Landau damping, we show that spin produces two new different effects of damping or instability which are proportional to ?. These corrections depend on the electromagnetic part of the wave that is coupled with the spin vector.     

Unstable twisted modes in interpenetrating space plasmas containing superthermal species

The electrostatic twisted modes with orbital angular momentum and associated kinetic instability are studied in a permeating space plasma containing streaming particle species. The plasma containing superthermal electrons and ions is modeled by using a non-gyrotropic Kappa distribution function which penetrates through a relatively slow moving (static) plasma and gives rise to dispersion, damping and growth of ion-acoustic mode under various conditions. Using the Vlasov-Poisson model, the solutions of twisted modes are defined by Laguerre-Gaussian mode functions, which decompose the plasma distribution function and electric field into components characterized by the axial and azimuthal wave numbers. The dielectric constant is derived and analyzed for threshold condition of wave dispersion and instability in the presence of helical electric field with illustrations. The wave excitations due to penetration of solar wind into cometary clouds or interstellar electron-ion plasmas is examined.     

Kinetic theory of surface waves in a semibounded plasma flow

A study is made of the spectrum of surface waves in a semibounded plasma flow. The frequency spectra and damping rates of the waves propagating along the flow are analyzed both in the high-frequency range (in which the spatial dispersion is weak and the wave damping is governed primarily by electron collisions) and the low-frequency range (in which the spatial-dispersion effects dominate), with focus on the effect of the flow velocity on the propagation of ion-acoustic waves. Special attention is paid to the penetration of a static field into a plasma flowing at a supersonic velocity.     

Zero temperature spin wave damping in spin polarized 3He: does it exist?

Previous spin echo experiments at equilibrium polarizations in 3He- 4He mixtures have confirmed the prediction of zero temperature polarization-induced spin wave damping in Fermi liquids. We have measured the damping of spin waves in dilute 3He, spin polarized by a 4He circulating dilution refrigerator. The maximum polarization is almost a factor of 5 higher than the equilibrium polarization in a magnetic field of 10.54 T at temperatures between 10 and 25 mK. The spin wave damping is much smaller than expected on the basis of the spin echo experiments and shows that the existence of polarization-induced spin wave damping is an open question.     

Theory of magnetostatic waves in a ferrite film with transition layers

A dispersion relation is derived for magnetostatic waves in a ferrite film with inhomogeneous layers near the interfaces. It is shown that the transition layers can be taken into account using a single integrated parameter, namely, the effective film thickness. It is established that the layered structure of the film causes an extra wave damping. The relations obtained can be used to analyze the dispersion and damping of the main modes of magnetostatic waves.     

Quantum spin dynamics of the bilayer ferromagnet La Sr Mn O

We construct a theory of spin wave excitations in the bilayer manganite La_1.2Sr_1.8Mn₂O₇ based on the simplest possible double-exchange model, but including leading quantum corrections to the spin wave dispersion and damping. Comparison is made with recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments. We find that quantum effects account for some part of the measured damping of spin waves, but cannot by themselves explain the observed softening of spin waves at the zone boundary. Furthermore a doping dependence of the total spin wave dispersion and the optical spin wave gap is predicted. Received 15 January 2002 Published online 6 June 2002     

Toward the theory of spin waves on the surface of a nanotube with a superlattice in a magnetic field

Electron spin waves on the surface of a semiconductor nanotube with a superlattice in a magnetic field have been considered. The spin-wave spectra and regions of collisionless wave damping have been found. It has been shown that the spin waves do not exhibit damping on small-radius tubes with a degenerate electron gas.     

The Effect of Plasma Resonance on the Propagation of Surface Waves along Plasma-Vacuum Channel

An investigation is made of the effect of a homogeneous plasma-vacuum narrow transition region on the nature of surface wave propagation along the vacuum channel boundary. Dispersion equations, taking into account the collision damping of surface waves in the region where the wave frequency is equal to LANGMUIR frequency have been obtained. The expressions for damping coefficients of surface waves have been found both for the plane and the cylindrical geometry. Transformation of surface waves into longitudinal oscillations in the transition layer is also obtained. For a period of time, determined by the transition layer width, the surface waves, caused by initial perturbation, have been demonstrated to transform into longitudinal oscillations concentrated in the plasma-vacuum transition layer and directed along the gradient of plasma density.     

Guided Waves in a Multi-Layered Cylindrical Elastic Solid Medium

We investigate the guided waves in a multi-layered cylindrical elastic solid medium. The dispersion function of guided waves is usually complex and the dispersion curves of all modes are not conveniently obtained. Here we present an effective method to obtain the dispersion curves of all modes. First, the dispersion function of the guided waves is transformed into a real function. The dispersion curves are then calculated for all the modes of the guided waves by the bisection method. The modes with the orders n = 0, 1, and 2 are analysed in two- and three-layer media. The existence condition of Stoneley wave is discussed. The modes of the guided waves are also investigated in a two-layer medium, in which the velocity of shear wave in the outer layer is less than that in the inner layer.     

Tunneling states in ferromagnetic glasses

We study the interaction between structural defects, represented by two level systems, and spin waves in a ferromagnetic glass. The damping and energy shift of the spin wave due to this interaction have a “resonant” and a “relaxation” contribution in analogy with the case of phonons. Ferromagnetic resonance in amorphous ferromagnets can provide useful information on structural relaxation in these materials.