Dynamics in Patterned Magnetic Nanostructures: Spin-Wave Excitations and Propagation

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Technical AbstractThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Patterned magnetic nanostructures exhibit vastly different properties compared to their bulk counterparts, including altered dynamic excitations. This project will explore magnetization dynamics in magnetic nanostructures, focusing on phenomena associated with the dynamics of magnetic vortices and antivortices, as well as, the generation and propagation of spin waves in nanopatterned magnetic systems. This will include the study of the generation of spin-wave bursts by vortex and anti-vortex dynamic core reversal and spin-wave propagation and filtering processes in magnetic nanowires. Combined experimental and numerical investigations will be used to explore and understand these processes. In additional to being of fundamental interest, magnetic nanostructures hold great potential for future information storage applications, non-volatile memory, and for spintronics applications that show promise for energy-efficient processing of information. The involvement and training of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels will play a vital role in this research. Students will participate in all aspects of the program, including the construction of new experimental set-ups. The project will also involve an outreach component related to the development of nanoscience and nanomagnetism resources for teachers and the general public.Non-Technical AbstractThis award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Reducing the size of a magnetic material down to sub-micrometer or nanometer dimensions changes the energetics of the system and leads to vastly different magnetic landscapes and dynamic excitations that are important for a wide range of present and future technologies. As experimental capabilities for fabricating and investigating structure on the nanoscale continue to improve, there is a wealth of phenomena predicted by numerical models waiting to be explored. This project will explore the magnetization dynamics of magnetic nanostructures. In particular, the project will examine phenomena associated with the dynamics of magnetic vortices and antivortices, as well as, the generation and propagation of spin waves in nanopatterned magnetic systems. Spin waves are propagating disturbances in the ordering of a magnetic material. The project will use combined numerical and experimental investigations to explore and understand these processes. In additional to being of fundamental interest, magnetic nanostructures hold great potential for future information storage applications, non-volatile memory for ?instant-on? computers, and for spintronics applications, that is, for devices that utilize the spin of the electron rather than just its charge, which hold promise for future energy-efficient processing of information. The involvement and training of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels will play a vital role in this research. Students will participate in all aspects of the program, including the construction of new experimental set-ups. The project will also involve an outreach component related to the development of nanoscience and nanomagnetism resources for teachers and the general public.