Phase reciprocity of spin-wave excitation by a microstrip antenna

Using space-, time-, and phase-resolved Brillouin light-scattering spectroscopy we investigate the difference in phase of the two counterpropagating spin waves excited by the same microwave microstrip transducer. These studies are performed both for backward volume magnetostatic waves and magnetostatic surface waves in an in-plane magnetized yttrium iron garnet film. The experiments show that for the backward volume magnetostatic spin waves (which are reciprocal and excited symmetrically in amplitude) there is a phase difference of pi associated with the excitation process and thus the phase symmetry is distorted. On the contrary, for the magnetostatic surface spin waves (which are nonreciprocal and unsymmetrical in amplitude) the phase symmetry is preserved (there is no phase difference between the two waves associated with the excitation). Theoretical analysis confirms this effect.