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Strongly-interacting nanomagnetic arrays are ideal systems for exploring reconfigurable magnonics. They provide huge microstate spaces and integrated solutions for storage and neuromorphic computing alongside GHz functionality. These systems may be broadly assessed by their range of reliably accessible states and the strength of magnon coupling phenomena and nonlinearities. Increasingly, nanomagnetic systems are expanding into three-dimensional architectures. This has enhanced the range of available magnetic microstates and functional behaviours, but engineering control over 3D states and dynamics remains challenging. Here, we introduce a 3D magnonic metamaterial composed from multilayered artificial spin ice nanoarrays. Comprising two magnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic spacer, each nanoisland may assume four macrospin or vortex states per magnetic layer. This creates a system with a rich 16Nmicrostate space and intense static and dynamic dipolar magnetic coupling. The system exhibits a broad range of emergent phenomena driven by the strong inter-layer dipolar interaction, including ultrastrong magnon-magnon coupling with normalised coupling rates of$$\frac{\Delta f}{\nu }=0.57$$ , GHz mode shifts in zero applied field and chirality-control of magnetic vortex microstates with corresponding magnonic spectra.
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This content will become publicly available on August 14, 2026
Ice sculpting: An artificial spin ice Tutorial on controlling microstate and geometry for magnonics and neuromorphic computing
Artificial spin ice, arrays of strongly interacting nanomagnets, are complex magnetic systems with many emergent properties, rich microstate spaces, intrinsic physical memory, high-frequency dynamics in the GHz range, and compatibility with a broad range of measurement approaches. This Tutorial article aims to provide the foundational knowledge needed to understand, design, develop, and improve the dynamic properties of artificial spin ice. Special emphasis is placed on introducing the theory of micromagnetics, which describes the complex dynamics within these systems, along with their design, fabrication methods, and standard measurement and control techniques. The article begins with a review of the historical background, introducing the underlying physical phenomena and interactions that govern artificial spin ice. We then explore the standard experimental techniques used to prepare the microstate space of the nanomagnetic array and to characterize magnetization dynamics, both in artificial spin ice and more broadly in ferromagnetic materials. Finally, we introduce the basics of neuromorphic computing applied to the case of artificial spin ice systems with a goal to help researchers new to the field grasp these exciting new developments.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2339475
- PAR ID:
- 10655916
- Publisher / Repository:
- AIP, J. Appl. Phys.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Volume:
- 138
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0021-8979
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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