Unveiling Micrometer-Range Spin-Wave Transport in Artificial Spin Ice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates coherent spin-wave transport over micrometer distances in a hybrid artificial spin ice system, overcoming dipolar interaction limitations and enabling new studies and applications in spin-wave-based signal processing.

Contribution

It introduces a multilayered ferromagnetic thin film system that facilitates exchange-mediated and tunneling spin-wave transmission in artificial spin ice.

Findings

Spin-wave transmission over one micrometer achieved.

Exchange-mediated coupling enables long-distance spin-wave propagation.

Evanescent tunneling through out-of-plane magnetized parts demonstrated.

Abstract

Artificial spin ice (ASI) systems exhibit fascinating phenomena, such as frustration and the formation of magnetic monopole states, and Dirac strings. However, exploring the wave phenomena in these systems is elusive due to the weak dipolar coupling that governs their interactions. In this study, we demonstrate coherent spin-wave propagation in an hybrid ASI system, which is based on a multilayered ferromagnetic thin film with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and in-plane magnetized nanoelements embedded within it. We show that this system enables spin-wave transmission over a one-micrometer distance via exchange-mediated coupling between subsystems and evanescent spin-wave tunneling through the out-of-plane magnetized parts. This system overcomes the limitations of purely dipolar interactions in standard ASIs while preserving their fundamental properties. Thus, it provides a platform for studying spin-wave phenomena in frustrated ASI systems and paves the way for exploiting them in analog signal processing with spin waves.