skip to main content


Title: Injection locking of multiple auto-oscillation modes in a tapered nanowire spin Hall oscillator
Abstract

Spin Hall oscillators (SHO) are promising candidates for the generation, detection and amplification of high frequency signals, that are tunable through a wide range of operating frequencies. They offer to be read out electrically, magnetically and optically in combination with a simple bilayer design. Here, we experimentally study the spatial dependence and spectral properties of auto-oscillations in SHO devices based on Pt(7 nm)/Ni80Fe20(5 nm) tapered nanowires. Using Brillouin light scattering microscopy, we observe two individual self-localized spin-wave bullets that oscillate at two distinct frequencies (5.2 GHz and 5.45 GHz) and are localized at different positions separated by about 750 nm within the SHO. This state of a tapered SHO has been predicted by a Ginzburg-Landau auto-oscillator model, but not yet been directly confirmed experimentally. We demonstrate that the observed bullets can be individually synchronized to external microwave signals, leading to a frequency entrainment, linewidth reduction and increase in oscillation amplitude for the bullet that is selected by the microwave frequency. At the same time, the amplitude of other parasitic modes decreases, which promotes the single-mode operation of the SHO. Finally, the synchronization of the spin-wave bullets is studied as a function of the microwave power. We believe that our findings promote the realization of extended spin Hall oscillators accomodating several distinct spin-wave bullets, that jointly cover an extended range of tunability.

 
more » « less
Award ID(s):
1708885 1641989
NSF-PAR ID:
10153321
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Nature Publishing Group
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Volume:
8
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2045-2322
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    Spin Hall oscillators (SHOs) based on bilayers of a ferromagnet (FM) and a non-magnetic heavy metal (HM) are electrically tunable nanoscale microwave signal generators. Achieving high output power in SHOs requires driving large-amplitude magnetization dynamics by a direct spin Hall current. Here we present an SHO engineered to have easy-plane magnetic anisotropy oriented normal to the bilayer plane, enabling large-amplitude easy-plane dynamics driven by spin Hall current. Our experiments and micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the easy-plane anisotropy can be achieved by tuning the magnetic shape anisotropy and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a nanowire SHO, leading to a significant enhancement of the generated microwave power. The easy-plane SHO experimentally demonstrated here is an ideal candidate for realization of a spintronic spiking neuron. Our results provide an approach to design of high-power SHOs for wireless communications, neuromorphic computing, and microwave assisted magnetic recording.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    Spin-Hall nano-oscillators (SHNOs) are promising spintronic devices to realize current controlled GHz frequency signals in nanoscale devices for neuromorphic computing and creating Ising systems. However, traditional SHNOs devices based on transition metals have high auto-oscillation threshold currents as well as low quality factors and output powers. Here we demonstrate a new type of hybrid SHNO based on a permalloy (Py) ferromagnetic-metal nanowire and low-damping ferrimagnetic insulator, in the form of epitaxial lithium aluminum ferrite (LAFO) thin films. The superior characteristics of such SHNOs are associated with the excitation of larger spin-precession angles and volumes. We further find that the presence of the ferrimagnetic insulator enhances the auto-oscillation amplitude of spin-wave edge modes, consistent with our micromagnetic modeling. This hybrid SHNO expands spintronic applications, including providing new means of coupling multiple SHNOs for neuromorphic computing and advancing magnonics.

     
    more » « less
  3. Modulation-based control and locking of lasers, filters and other photonic components is a ubiquitous function across many applications that span the visible to infrared (IR), including atomic, molecular and optical (AMO), quantum sciences, fiber communications, metrology, and microwave photonics. Today, modulators used to realize these control functions consist of high-power bulk-optic components for tuning, sideband modulation, and phase and frequency shifting, while providing low optical insertion loss and operation from DC to 10s of MHz. In order to reduce the size, weight and cost of these applications and improve their scalability and reliability, modulation control functions need to be implemented in a low loss, wafer-scale CMOS-compatible photonic integration platform. The silicon nitride integration platform has been successful at realizing extremely low waveguide losses across the visible to infrared and components including high performance lasers, filters, resonators, stabilization cavities, and optical frequency combs. Yet, progress towards implementing low loss, low power modulators in the silicon nitride platform, while maintaining wafer-scale process compatibility has been limited. Here we report a significant advance in integration of a piezo-electric (PZT, lead zirconate titanate) actuated micro-ring modulation in a fully-planar, wafer-scale silicon nitride platform, that maintains low optical loss (0.03 dB/cm in a 625 µm resonator) at 1550 nm, with an order of magnitude increase in bandwidth (DC - 15 MHz 3-dB and DC - 25 MHz 6-dB) and order of magnitude lower power consumption of 20 nW improvement over prior PZT modulators. The modulator provides a >14 dB extinction ratio (ER) and 7.1 million quality-factor (Q) over the entire 4 GHz tuning range, a tuning efficiency of 162 MHz/V, and delivers the linearity required for control applications with 65.1 dB·Hz2/3and 73.8 dB·Hz2/3third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) at 1 MHz and 10 MHz respectively. We demonstrate two control applications, laser stabilization in a Pound-Drever Hall (PDH) lock loop, reducing laser frequency noise by 40 dB, and as a laser carrier tracking filter. This PZT modulator design can be extended to the visible in the ultra-low loss silicon nitride platform with minor waveguide design changes. This integration of PZT modulation in the ultra-low loss silicon nitride waveguide platform enables modulator control functions in a wide range of visible to IR applications such as atomic and molecular transition locking for cooling, trapping and probing, controllable optical frequency combs, low-power external cavity tunable lasers, quantum computers, sensors and communications, atomic clocks, and tunable ultra-low linewidth lasers and ultra-low phase noise microwave synthesizers.

     
    more » « less
  4. null (Ed.)
    Using time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (TR-MOKE) microscopy, we demonstrate surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) induced resonant amplification of intrinsic spin-wave (SW) modes, as well as generation of new extrinsic or driven modes at the SAW frequency, in a densely packed two-dimensional array of elliptical Co nanomagnets fabricated on a piezoelectric LiNbO 3 substrate. This system can efficiently serve as a magnonic crystal (MC), where the intrinsic shape anisotropy and the strong inter-element magnetostatic interaction trigger the incoherent precession of the nanomagnets' magnetization in the absence of any bias magnetic field, giving rise to the ‘intrinsic’ SW modes. The magnetoelastic coupling leads to a rich variety of SW phenomena when the SAW is launched along the major axis of the nanomagnets, such as 4–7 times amplification of intrinsic modes (at 3, 4, 7 and 10 GHz) when the applied SAW frequencies are resonant with these frequencies, and the generation of new extrinsic modes at non-resonant SAW frequencies. However, when the SAW is launched along the minor axis, a dominant driven mode appears at the applied SAW frequency. This reveals that the magnetoelastic coupling between SW and SAW is anisotropic in nature. Micromagnetic simulation results are in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations and elucidate the underlying dynamics. Our findings lay the groundwork for bias-field free magnonics, where the SW behavior is efficiently tuned by SAWs. It has important applications in the design of energy efficient on-chip microwave devices, SW logic, and extreme sub-wavelength ultra-miniaturized microwave antennas for embedded applications. 
    more » « less
  5. Spin-to-charge conversion (S2CC) processes in thin-film heterostructures have attracted much attention in recent years. Here, we describe the S2CC in a 3D topological insulator Bi2Te3 interfaced with an epitaxial film of Fe75Co25. The quantification of spin-to-charge conversion is made with two complementary techniques: ferromagnetic resonance based inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE) at GHz frequencies and femtosecond light-pulse induced emission of terahertz (THz) radiation. The role of spin rectification due to extrinsic effects like anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) and planar Hall effects (PHE) is pronounced at the GHz timescale, whereas the THz measurements do not show any detectible signal, which could be attributed to AMR or PHE. This result may be due to (i) homodyne rectification at GHz, which is absent in THz measurements and (ii) laser-induced thermal spin current generation and magnetic dipole radiation in THz measurements, which is completely absent in GHz range. The converted charge current has been analyzed using the spin diffusion model for the ISHE. We note that regardless of the differences in timescales, the spin diffusion length in the two cases is comparable. Our results aid in understanding the role of spin pumping timescales in the generation of ISHE signals.

     
    more » « less