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Title: Excitation and detection of coherent sub-terahertz magnons in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic heterostructures
Abstract

Excitation of coherent high-frequency magnons (quanta of spin waves) is critical to the development of high-speed magnonic devices. Here we computationally demonstrate the excitation of coherent sub-terahertz (THz) magnons in ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) thin films by a photoinduced picosecond acoustic pulse. Analytical calculations are also performed to reveal the magnon excitation mechanism. Through spin pumping and spin-charge conversion, these magnons can inject sub-THz charge current into an adjacent heavy-metal film which in turn emits electromagnetic (EM) waves. Using a dynamical phase-field model that considers the coupled dynamics of acoustic waves, spin waves, and EM waves, we show that the emitted EM wave retains the spectral information of all the sub-THz magnon modes and has a sufficiently large amplitude for near-field detection. These predictions indicate that the excitation and detection of sub-THz magnons can be realized in rationally designed FM or AFM thin-film heterostructures via ultrafast optical-pump THz-emission-probe spectroscopy.

 
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Award ID(s):
2006028
NSF-PAR ID:
10369457
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
Nature Publishing Group
Date Published:
Journal Name:
npj Computational Materials
Volume:
8
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2057-3960
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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