Spin-wave spectroscopy and application of its methods to heterostructures of silicon dioxide with Co nanoparticles on a GaAs substrate

A method has been developed for determining magnetic and electrical characteristics of film nanostructures containing magnetic nanoparticles from dispersion curves of surface spin waves propagating in these nanostructures. The dispersion curves of spin waves are determined by the dynamics of the spin component described by the generalized Landau-Lifshitz equations and an alternating electromagnetic field induced by a spin wave. Since spin waves are very sensitive to inhomogeneity of magnetic parameters, spin disorder, and conductivity of an object near or inside which these waves propagate, they can be used for determining magnetic and electrical characteristics of the objects under investigation. The developed calculation method, which can be employed both in spin-wave spectroscopy and in analysis of dispersion curves obtained by other methods, has been used for determining parameters of heterostructures consisting of a SiO₂ film with Co nanoparticles on a GaAs substrate. It has been found from the shape of dispersion curves of the surface spin waves that, in the film near the interface, spins of the nanoparticles are close to a ferromagnetic ordering, whereas near the free surface, the spin orientation of nanoparticles is more chaotic. It has been revealed that a conducting layer is formed in GaAs, and the SiO₂(Co) film near the interface has an increased conductivity.