Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Spin waves with nanoscale wavelengths can transfer information free of electron transport and hence are promising for wave-based computing technologies with low-power consumption as a solution to the severe energy losses in modern electronics. Logic circuits based on the interference of spin waves have been proposed for more than a decade. However, spin-wave interference at the nanoscale has yet been realized. Here, we demonstrate experimentally the interference of spin waves with wavelengths down to 50 nm in a low-damping magnetic insulator. The constructive and destructive interference of spin waves is detected in the frequency domain using propagating spin-wave spectroscopy, which is further confirmed by the Brillouin light scattering. The interference pattern is found to be highly sensitive to the distance between two magnetic nanowires acting as spin-wave emitters. By controlling the magnetic configuration of the double-wire system, one can switch the spin-wave interferometer on and off. The observed phenomena are theoretically accounted for by the interlayer magnon-magnon coupling. Our demonstrations are thus key to the realization of spin-wave computing system based on non-volatile nanomagnets at the GHz frequencies.