arXiv subjects

P. Pirro

Publications and source records attributed to P. Pirro.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Integrated magnonic half-adder

Spin waves and their quanta magnons open up a promising branch of high-speed and low-power information processing. Several important milestones were achieved recently in the realization of separate magnonic data processing units including logic gates, a magnon transistor and units for non-Boolean computing. Nevertheless, the realization of an integrated magnonic circuit consisting of at least two logic gates and suitable for further integration is still an unresolved challenge. Here we demonstrate such an integrated circuit numerically on the example of a magnonic half-adder. Its key element is a nonlinear directional coupler serving as combined XOR and AND logic gate that utilizes the dependence of the spin wave dispersion on its amplitude. The circuit constitutes of only three planar nano-waveguides and processes all information within the magnon domain. Benchmarking of the proposed device is performed showing the potential for sub-aJ energy consumption per operation.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Spin pinning and spin-wave dispersion in nanoscopic ferromagnetic waveguides

Spin waves are investigated in Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) waveguides with a thickness of 39 nm and widths ranging down to 50 nm, i.e., with aspect ratios thickness over width approaching unity, using Brillouin Light Scattering spectroscopy. The experimental results are verified by a semi-analytical theory and micromagnetic simulations. A critical width is found, below which the exchange interaction suppresses the dipolar pinning phenomenon. This changes the quantization criterion for the spin-wave eigenmodes and results in a pronounced modification of the spin-wave characteristics. The presented semi-analytical theory allows for the calculation of spin-wave mode profiles and dispersion relations in nano-structures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Backscattering immunity of dipole-exchange magnetostatic surface spin waves

The existence of backscattering-immune spin-wave modes is demonstrated in magnetic thin films of nano-scale thickness. Our results reveal that chiral Magneto Static Surface Waves (cMSSWs), which propagate perpendicular to the magnetization direction in an in-plane magnetized thin film, are robust against backscattering from surface defects. cMSSWs are protected against various types of surface inhomogeneities and defects as long as their frequency lies inside the gap of the volume modes. Our explanation is independent of the topology of the modes and predicts that this robustness is a consequence of symmetry breaking of the dynamic magnetic fields of cMSSWs due to the off-diagonal part of the dipolar interaction tensor, which is present both for long- (dipole dominated) and short-wavelength (exchange dominated) spin waves. Micromagnetic simulations confirm the robust character of the cMSSWs. Our results open a new direction in designing highly efficient magnonic logic elements and devices employing cMSSWs in nano-scale thin films.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Characterization of Spin-Transfer-Torque effect induced magnetization dynamics driven by short current pulses

We present a time-resolved study of the magnetization dynamics in a microstructured Cr$|$Heusler$|$Pt waveguide driven by the Spin-Hall-Effect and the Spin-Transfer-Torque effect via short current pulses. In particular, we focus on the determination of the threshold current at which the spin-wave damping is compensated. We have developed a novel method based on the temporal evolution of the magnon density at the beginning of an applied current pulse at which the magnon density deviates from the thermal level. Since this method does not depend on the signal-to-noise ratio, it allows for a robust and reliable determination of the threshold current which is important for the characterization of any future application based on the Spin-Transfer-Torque effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Spin-Wave versus Joule Heating in Spin-Hall-Effect/Spin-Transfer-Torque Driven Cr/Heusler/Pt Waveguides

We present a time-resolved study of the DC-current driven magnetization dynamics in a microstructured Cr/Heusler/Pt waveguide by means of Brillouin light scattering. A reduction of the effective spin-wave damping via the spin-transfer-torque effect leads to a strong increase in the magnon density. This is accompanied by a decrease of the spin-wave frequencies. By evaluating the time scales of these effects, the origin of this frequency shift can be identified. However, recently, we found that the experimental setup partially influences the decay of the spin-wave intensity after the current pulse is switched off. Thus, further investigations on the presented effect are needed to allow for a more detailed analysis. For this reason, we need to withdraw the manuscript at this point and might publish an updated version later.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Excitation and detection of short-waved spin waves in ultrathin Ta/CoFeB/MgO-layer system suitable for spin-orbit-torque magnonics

We report on the excitation and detection of short-waved spin waves with wave vectors up to about $40\,\mathrm{rad}\,μ\mathrm{m}^{-1}$ in spin-wave waveguides made from ultrathin, in-plane magnetized Co$_{8}$Fe$_{72}$B$_{20}$ (CoFeB). The CoFeB is incorporated in a layer stack of Ta/CoFeB/Mgo, a layer system featuring large spin orbit torques and a large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant. The short-waved spin waves are excited by nanometric coplanar waveguides and are detected via spin rectification and microfocussed Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. We show that the large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy benefits the spin-wave lifetime greatly, resulting in a lifetime comparable to bulk systems without interfacial damping. The presented results pave the way for the successful extension of magnonics to ultrathin asymmetric layer stacks featuring large spin orbit torques.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Two types of all-optical magnetization switching mechanisms using femtosecond laser pulses

Magnetization manipulation in the absence of an external magnetic field is a topic of great interest, since many novel physical phenomena need to be understood and promising new applications can be imagined. Cutting-edge experiments have shown the capability to switch the magnetization of magnetic thin films using ultrashort polarized laser pulses. In 2007, it was first observed that the magnetization switching for GdFeCo alloy thin films was helicity-dependent and later helicity-independent switching was also demonstrated on the same material. Recently, all-optical switching has also been discovered for a much larger variety of magnetic materials (ferrimagnetic, ferromagnetic films and granular nanostructures), where the theoretical models explaining the switching in GdFeCo films do not appear to apply, thus questioning the uniqueness of the microscopic origin of all-optical switching. Here, we show that two different all-optical switching mechanisms can be distinguished; a "single pulse" switching and a "cumulative" switching process whose rich microscopic origin is discussed. We demonstrate that the latter is a two-step mechanism; a heat-driven demagnetization followed by a helicity-dependent remagnetization. This is achieved by an all-electrical and time-dependent investigation of the all-optical switching in ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic Hall crosses via the anomalous Hall effect, enabling to probe the all-optical switching on different timescales.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Spin-transfer torque based damping control of parametrically excited spin waves in a magnetic insulator

The damping of spin waves parametrically excited in the magnetic insulator Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) is controlled by a dc current passed through an adjacent normal-metal film. The experiment is performed on a macroscopically sized YIG(100nm)/Pt(10nm) bilayer of 4x2 mm^2 lateral dimensions. The spin-wave relaxation frequency is determined via the threshold of the parametric instability measured by Brillouin light scattering (BLS) spectroscopy. The application of a dc current to the Pt film leads to the formation of a spin-polarized electron current normal to the film plane due to the spin Hall effect (SHE). This spin current exerts a spin transfer torque (STT) in the YIG film and, thus, changes the spin-wave damping. Depending on the polarity of the applied dc current with respect to the magnetization direction, the damping can be increased or decreased. The magnitude of its variation is proportional to the applied current. A variation in the relaxation frequency of +/-7.5% is achieved for an applied dc current density of 5*10^10 A/m^2.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Experimental observation of the interaction of propagating spin waves with Néel domain walls in a Landau domain structure

The interaction of propagating dipolar spin waves with magnetic domain walls is investigated in square-shaped microstructures patterned from the Heusler compound Co$_2$Mn$_{0.6}$Fe$_{0.4}$Si. Using magnetic force microscopy, the reversible preparation of a Landau state with four magnetic domains separated by Néel domain walls is confirmed. A local spin-wave excitation using a microstructured antenna is realized in one of the domains. It is shown by Brillouin light scattering microscopy (BLS) that the domain structure in the remanence state has a strong influence on the spin-wave excitation and propagation. The domain walls strongly reflect the spin waves and can be used as spin-wave reflectors. A comparison with micromagnetic simulations shows that the strong reflection is due to the long-range dipolar interaction which has important implications for the use of these spin waves for exerting an all-magnonic spin-transfer torque.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Spin-wave excitation and propagation in microstructured waveguides of yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/Pt bilayers

We present an experimental study of spin-wave excitation and propagation in microstructured waveguides patterned from a 100 nm thick yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/platinum (Pt) bilayer. The life time of the spin waves is found to be more than an order of magnitude higher than in comparably sized metallic structures despite the fact that the Pt capping enhances the Gilbert damping. Utilizing microfocus Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy, we reveal the spin-wave mode structure for different excitation frequencies. An exponential spin-wave amplitude decay length of 31 μm is observed which is a significant step towards low damping, insulator based micro-magnonics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Sub-microsecond fast temporal evolution of the spin Seebeck effect

We present temporal evolution of the spin Seebeck effect in a YIG|Pt bilayer system. Our findings reveal that this effect is a sub-microseconds fast phenomenon governed by the temperature gradient and the thermal magnons diffusion in the magnetic materials. A comparison of experimental results with the thermal-driven magnon-diffusion model shows that the temporal behavior of this effect depends on the time development of the temperature gradient in the vicinity of the YIG|Pt interface. The effective thermal-magnon diffusion length for YIG|Pt systems is estimated to be around 700nm.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Mode conversion by symmetry breaking of propagating spin waves

We study spin-wave transport in a microstructured Ni81Fe19 waveguide exhibiting broken translational symmetry. We observe the conversion of a beam profile composed of symmetric spin-wave width modes with odd numbers of antinodes n=1,3,... into a mixed set of symmetric and asymmetric modes. Due to the spatial homogeneity of the exciting field along the used microstrip antenna, quantized spin-wave modes with an even number n of antinodes across the stripe's width cannot be directly excited. We show that a break in translational symmetry may result in a partial conversion of even spin-wave waveguide modes

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Nonlinear emission of spin-wave caustics from an edge mode of a micro-structured Co2Mn0.6Fe0.4Si waveguide

Magnetic Heusler materials with very low Gilbert damping are expected to show novel magnonic transport phenomena. We report nonlinear generation of higher harmonics leading to the emission of caustic spin-wave beams in a low-damping, micro-structured Co2Mn0.6Fe0.4Si Heusler waveguide. The source for the higher harmonic generation is a localized edge mode formed by the strongly inhomogeneous field distribution at the edges of the spin-wave waveguide. The radiation characteristics of the propagating caustic waves observed at twice and three times the excitation frequency are described by an analytical calculation based on the anisotropic dispersion of spin waves in a magnetic thin film.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Spin-wave propagation in a microstructured magnonic crystal

Transmission of microwave spin waves through a microstructured magnonic crystal in the form of a permalloy waveguide of a periodically varying width was studied experimentally and theoretically. The spin wave characteristics were measured by spatially-resolved Brillouin light scattering microscopy. A rejection frequency band was clearly observed. The band gap frequency was controlled by the applied magnetic field. The measured spin-wave intensity as a function of frequency and propagation distance is in good agreement with a model calculation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗