Mastering magnons on the nanoscale: spin waves in periodic and quasicrystalline spin structures and nanomagnet lattices

Periodically modulated magnetic thin films have given rise to the realization of magnonic crystals. They provide tailored band structures for spin waves (magnons) and represent the magnetic counterpart of photonic crystals. Based on magnons instead of photons such artificial crystals allow one to shrink the wavelength of electromagnetic waves by five to six orders of magnitude. Thereby on-chip microwave components might be realized that exploit wavelengths which are as short as the ones of soft x-rays. At the same time the artificially tailored band structures and magnons can be controlled in operation via different magnetic states. We prepare and explore periodic and aperiodic (quasicrystalline) lattices of nanomagnets that might form the basis of nanoscale microwave devices with reconfigurable wave characteristics.
About the research of the speaker: http://lmgn.epfl.ch