Magnonic band structure in CoFeB/Ta/NiFe meander-shaped magnetic bilayers

In this work, we investigate the spin-wave propagation in three-dimensional nanoscale CoFeB/Ta/NiFe meander structures fabricated on a structured SiO2/Si substrate. The magnonic band structure has been experimentally determined by wavevector-resolved Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy and a set of stationary modes interposed by two dispersive modes of Bloch type have been identified. The results could be understood by micromagnetic and finite element simulations of the mode distributions in both real space and the frequency domain. The dispersive modes periodically oscillate in frequency over the Brillouin zones and correspond to modes, whose spatial distributions extend over the entire sample and are either localized exclusively in the CoFeB layer or the entire CoFeB/Ta/NiFe magnetic bilayer, with in-phase precession of the dynamic magnetization in the two layers. Low-frequency stationary modes are concentrated in horizontal segments of the topmost NiFe layer with sizeable amplitudes in the vertical CoFeB and NiFe segments and out-of-phase precession. The findings are compared with those of single-layer CoFeB meander structures with the same geometry parameters, which reveals the influence of the dipolar coupling between the two ferromagnetic layers on the magnonic band structure.

Automated summary

In this study, the spin-wave propagation in three-dimensional nanoscale CoFeB/Ta/NiFe meander structures was investigated, revealing the magnonic band structure with a set of stationary modes interposed by dispersive modes. The influence of dipolar coupling between the ferromagnetic layers on the magnonic band structure was compared with single-layer CoFeB meander structures with the same geometry parameters.