Resonant microwave-to-spin-wave transducer

We use time resolved scanning Kerr microscopy and analytical and numerical calculations to demonstrate coupling of uniform global microwave field to propagating spin waves for emerging magnonic architectures. The coupling is mediated by the local dynamic dipolar field produced by the magnetization of a resonantly driven all-metallic magnetic microwave-to-spin-wave transducer. The local dipolar field can exceed that of the incident microwave field by one order of magnitude. Our numerical simulations demonstrate the ability of the transducer to unidirectionally emit coherent exchange spin waves of nanoscale wavelengths with the emission direction programmed by the magnetic state of the transducer. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4711039]