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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1975

On the magnon interaction in Haematite. 2: Magnon energy of the acoustical mode and magnetic critical fields

Previous spin wave theories of the antiferromagnet hematite were extended. The behavior of thermodynamic quantities around the Morin transition temperature was studied, and the latent heat of the Morin transition was calculated. The temperature dependence of the antiferromagnetic resonance frequency and the parallel and perpendicular critical spin-flop magnetic fields were calculated. It was found that the theory agrees well with experiment.

Bonavito, N. L.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Emergent properties of magnons coupled to microwave photons (Final Technical Report)

Studying the emergent properties of hybrid quantum material platforms holds great promise for advancing quantum technologies and transforming our ability to control quantum mechanical interactions. A key development in recent years is the recognition that magnons – the elementary quanta of spin waves – can serve as fundamental building blocks in quantum systems. Understanding the mechanisms behind the generation and control of hybrid quasiparticles based on magnons could pave the way for engineering new materials for quantum coherent processing and quantum computing. This research project focused on the precise control of light-matter interactions in magnetic hybrid systems and nanostructures, where light is carried by microwave photons and matter by magnons in engineered magnetic metamaterials. Furthermore, we investigated hybridized magnon interactions in magnetic nanostructures and devices. To this end, the project has developed new measurement techniques and systematically studied novel material systems for efficient magnon-photon coupling. A key focus was uncovering the fundamental mechanisms governing magnon-photon and magnon-phonon interactions – critical for utilizing magnons as coherent information transducers between carriers. Specifically, this research addressed: 1. Investigate the dispersion and collective properties of magnon hybrid systems in new material systems. 2. Develop magnonic hybrids with non-zero wavevectors and achieve effective control of magnon-polariton properties through engineered magnonic behaviors. 3. Determine how spin-orbit torques interact with electromagnetic fields in the strong coupling regime. This work generated new insights into the physics of magnonic hybrid systems and their emergent properties by broadening the range of material platforms and measurement techniques used to study magnon-photon and magnon-magnon coupling. The findings deepen our understanding of magnon-polaritons and lay the groundwork for novel spintronic devices with potential applications in quantum information science.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Long-lived zone-boundary magnons in an antiferromagnet

Antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulators exhibit many desirable features for spintronic applications such as fast dynamics in the THz range and robustness to fluctuating external fields. However, large damping typically associated with THz magnons presents a serious challenge for THz magnonic applications. Here, we report long-lived short-wavelength zone boundary magnons in the honeycomb AFM insulator CoTiO 3 , recently found to host topological magnons. We find that its zone-boundary THz magnons exhibit longer lifetimes than its zone-center magnons. This unusual momentum-dependent long magnon lifetime originates from several factors including the antiferromagnetic order, exchange anisotropy, a finite magnon gap, and magnon band dispersion. Our work suggests that magnon-magnon interaction may not be detrimental to magnon lifetimes and should be included in future searches for topological magnons.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Detecting Magnon-phonon coupling in yttrium iron garnet with variable temperature STEM-EELS

Magnons, quanta of spin wave excitations in magnetically ordered materials, have been identified as candidates for several potentially transformative technologies in recent years. Macroscopic techniques, such as neutron scattering or Raman spectroscopy, can be used to identify and analyze magnons, but provide relatively delocalized information about the sample. Understanding how the bonding and local structure of a material interacts with, and influences, the magnon population in a material is a crucial step toward the ability to produce any real-world application utilizing magnons. By leveraging the combined spatial resolution of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and the energy resolution of monochromated electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) nanoscale analysis of magnons can be performed. While the weak interaction of magnons with the electron beam makes magnon EELS challenging on reasonable timescales, magnon-phonon coupling can be leveraged to understand magnons through their effect on the more easily measured phonons. Here, we examine yttrium iron garnet (YIG) flakes, and demonstrate non-linear, temperature-dependent shifts in the phonon frequencies, consistent with previously described magnon-phonon coupling effects. The ability to measure the temperature-dependence of vibrational frequencies with high precision in individual nanoscale flakes, demonstrates the ability to study magnon-phonon coupling in the STEM with unprecedented spatial resolution.

Reifsnyder, Alexander [ORNL]↗
DOE OSTI2024

Extreme terahertz magnon multiplication induced by resonant magnetic pulse pairs

Nonlinear interactions of spin-waves and their quanta, magnons, have emerged as prominent candidates for interference-based technology, ranging from quantum transduction to antiferromagnetic spintronics. Yet magnon multiplication in the terahertz (THz) spectral region represents a major challenge. Intense, resonant magnetic fields from THz pulse-pairs with controllable phases and amplitudes enable high order THz magnon multiplication, distinct from non-resonant nonlinearities such as the high harmonic generation by below-band gap electric fields. Here, we demonstrate exceptionally high-order THz nonlinear magnonics. It manifests as 7th-order spin-wave-mixing and 6th harmonic magnon generation in an antiferromagnetic orthoferrite. We use THz two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy to achieve high-sensitivity detection of nonlinear magnon interactions up to six-magnon quanta in strongly-driven many-magnon correlated states. The high-order magnon multiplication, supported by classical and quantum spin simulations, elucidates the significance of four-fold magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya symmetry breaking. Moreover, our results shed light on the potential quantum fluctuation properties inherent in nonlinear magnons.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Tunable interaction between excitons and hybridized magnons in a layered semiconductor

The interaction between distinct excitations in solids is of both fundamental interest and technological importance. One example of such interactions is coupling between an exciton, a Coulomb bound electron-hole pair, and a magnon, a collective spin excitation. The recent emergence of van der Waals magnetic semiconductors1 provides a powerful platform for exploring these exciton-magnon interactions and their fundamental properties, such as strong correlation2, as well as their photo-spintronic and quantum transduction3 applications. Here we demonstrate precise control of coherent exciton-magnon interactions in the layered magnetic semiconductor CrSBr. We show that by controlling the direction of applied magnetic fields relative to the crystal axes, and thus the rotational symmetry of the magnetic system4, we can tune not only the exciton coupling to the bright magnon, but also to an optically dark mode via magnon hybridization. The exciton-magnon coupling and associated magnon dispersion curves can be further modulated by applying a uniaxial strain. At the critical strain, a dispersionless dark magnon band emerges. Our results demonstrate unprecedented control of the opto-mechanical-magnonic coupling, and a step towards the predictable and controllable implementation of hybrid quantum magnonics.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hybridized magnonic materials for THz frequency applications

The capability of magnons to hybridize and strongly couple with diverse excitations offers a promising avenue for realizing and controlling emergent properties that hold significant potential for applications in devices, circuits, and information processing. In this Letter, we present recent theoretical and experimental developments in magnon-based hybrid systems, focusing on the combination of magnon excitation in an antiferromagnet with other excitations, namely, plasmons in a topological insulator, phonons in a 2D antiferromagnetic (2D AFM), and photons. Here, the existence of THz frequency magnons, plasmons, and phonons makes magnon-based hybrid systems particularly appealing for high-operating-speed devices. In this context, we explore several directions to advance magnon hybrid systems, including strong coupling between a surface plasmon and magnon polariton in a topological insulator /AFM bilayer, a giant spin Nernst effect induced by magnon–phonon coupling in 2D AFMs, and control of magnon–photon coupling using spin torque.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

High-dynamic-range quantum sensing of magnons and their dynamics using a superconducting qubit

Magnons, the quanta of collective spin excitations in magnetic materials, may enable functionalities, such as nonreciprocity and transduction in hybrid quantum devices. To assess the potential of such applications, it is necessary to understand magnon dynamics beyond the simple harmonic oscillator regime, where theory predicts effects like population-dependent damping and quantum fluctuations in the form of magnon shot noise. Probing these phenomena requires sensors with high sensitivity and the ability to resolve magnon properties across different excitation regimes. Here, we demonstrate accurate and sensitive detection of magnon population and decay over a wide range of occupation numbers. We use a superconducting qubit to probe magnons in a ferrimagnet over approximately 2000 excitations. Using qubit control and parametrically induced qubit-magnon interactions, we demonstrate few-excitation sensitive detection of magnons with a dynamic range of approximately 30 dB, and are able to accurately resolve their decay with few-ns sensitivity. These capabilities offer a powerful and practical technique for probing magnon dynamics in or beyond the linear regime over a wide range of excitations.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hybrid magnonics: Physics, circuits, and applications for coherent information processing

Hybrid dynamic systems have recently gained interest with respect to both fundamental physics and device applications, particularly with their potential for coherent information processing. In this work, we will focus on the recent rapid developments of magnon-based hybrid systems, which seek to combine magnonic excitations with diverse excitations for transformative applications in devices, circuits, and information processing. Key to their promising potentials is that magnons are highly tunable excitations and can be easily engineered to couple with various dynamic media and platforms. The capability of reaching strong coupling with many different excitations has positioned magnons well for studying solid-state coherent dynamics and exploiting unique functionality. In addition, with their gigahertz frequency bandwidth and the ease of fabrication and miniaturization, magnonic devices and systems can be conveniently integrated into microwave circuits for mimicking a broad range of device concepts that have been applied in microwave electronics, photonics, and quantum information. We will discuss a few potential directions for advancing magnon hybrid systems, including on-chip geometry, novel coherent magnonic functionality, and coherent transduction between different platforms. As a future outlook, we will discuss the opportunities and challenges of magnonic hybrid systems for their applications in quantum information and magnonic logic.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamics of nonequilibrium magnons in gapped Heisenberg antiferromagnets

Nonequilibrium dynamics in spin systems is a topic currently under intense investigation as it provides fundamental insights into thermalization, universality, and exotic transport phenomena. While most of the studies have been focused on ideal closed quantum many-body systems such as ultracold atomic quantum gases and one-dimensional spin chains, driven-dissipative Bose gases in steady states away from equilibrium in classical systems also lead to intriguing nonequilibrium physics. Here, in this work, we theoretically investigate out-of-equilibrium dynamics of magnons in a gapped Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet based on Boltzmann transport theory. We show that, by treating scattering terms beyond the relaxation-time approximation in the Boltzmann transport equation, energy and particle number conservation mandate that nonequilibrium magnons cannot relax to equilibrium, but decay to other nonequilibrium stationary states. The only decay channel for these stationary states back to equilibrium is through the nonconserving interactions (i.e., changing particle number and/or energy within the magnon system) such as boundary or magnon-phonon scattering. At low temperatures, these nonconserving interactions are much slower processes than intrinsic magnon-magnon interaction in a gapped spin system. Using magnon-phonon interaction as a quintessential type of nonconserving interaction, we then propose that nonequilibrium steady states of magnons can be maintained and tailored using periodic driving at frequencies faster than relaxation due to phonon interactions. These findings reveal a class of classical material systems that are suitable platforms to study nonequilibrium statistical physics and macroscopic phenomena such as classical Bose-Einstein condensation of quasiparticles and magnon supercurrents that are relevant for spintronic applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Coupling magnons to an opto-electronic parametric oscillator

Hybrid magnonic systems have emerged as versatile modular components for quantum signal transduction and sensing applications owing to their capability of connecting distinct quantum platforms. To date, the majority of the magnonic systems have been explored in a local, near-field scheme, due to the close proximity required for realizing a strong coupling between magnons and other excitations. This constraint greatly limits the applicability of magnons in developing remotely coupled, distributed quantum network systems. On the contrary, opto-electronic architectures hosting self-sustained oscillations have been a unique platform for long-haul signal transmission and processing. Here, we integrated an opto-electronic oscillator with a magnonic oscillator consisting of a microwave waveguide and a Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 (YIG) sphere, and demonstrated strong and coherent coupling between YIG’s magnon modes and the opto-electronic oscillator’s characteristic photon modes—revealing the hallmark anti-crossing gap in the measured spectrum. In particular, the photon mode is produced on-demand via a nonlinear, parametric process as stipulated by an external seed pump. Both the internal cavity phase and the external pump phase can be precisely tuned to stabilize either degenerate or nondegenerate auto-oscillations. Our result lays out a new, hybrid platform for investigating the long-distance coupling and nonlinearity in coherent magnonic phenomena, which may be found useful in constructing the future “distributed hybrid magnonic systems.”

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quantum Engineering With Hybrid Magnonic Systems and Materials (Invited Paper)

Quantum technology has made tremendous strides over the past two decades with remarkable advances in materials engineering, circuit design and dynamic operation. In particular, the integration of different quantum modules has benefited from hybrid quantum systems, which provide an important pathway for harnessing the different natural advantages of complementary quantum systems and for engineering new functionalities. This review focuses on the current frontiers with respect to utilizing magnetic excitations or magnons for novel quantum functionality. Magnons are the fundamental excitations of magnetically ordered solid-state materials and provide great tunability and exibility for interacting with various quantum modules for integration in diverse quantum systems. The concomitant rich variety of physics and material selections enable exploration of novel quantum phenomena in materials science and engineering. In addition, the relative ease of generating strong coupling and forming hybrid dynamic systems with other excitations makes hybrid magnonics a unique platform for quantum engineering. We start our discussion with circuit-based hybrid magnonic systems, which are coupled with microwave photons and acoustic phonons. Subsequently, we are focusing on the recent progress of magnon-magnon coupling within confined magnetic systems. Next we highlight new opportunities for understanding the interactions between magnons and nitrogen-vacancy centers for quantum sensing and implementing quantum interconnects. Lastly, we focus on the spin excitations and magnon spectra of novel quantum materials investigated with advanced optical characterization.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tunable magnons of an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator via interfacial metal-insulator transitions

Antiferromagnetic insulators present a promising alternative to ferromagnets due to their ultrafast spin dynamics essential for low-energy terahertz spintronic device applications. Magnons, i.e., quantized spin waves capable of transmitting information through excitations, serve as a key functional element in this paradigm. However, identifying external mechanisms to effectively tune magnon properties has remained a major challenge. Here we demonstrate that interfacial metal-insulator transitions offer an effective method for controlling the magnons of Sr 2 IrO 4 , a strongly spin-orbit coupled antiferromagnetic Mott insulator. Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering experiments reveal a significant softening of zone-boundary magnon energies in Sr 2 IrO 4 films epitaxially interfaced with metallic 4 d transition-metal oxides. Therefore, the magnon dispersion of Sr 2 IrO 4 can be tuned by metal-insulator transitions of the 4 d transition-metal oxides. We tentatively attribute this non-trivial behavior to a long-range phenomenon mediated by magnon-acoustic phonon interactions. Our experimental findings introduce a strategy for controlling magnons and underscore the need for further theoretical studies to better understand the underlying microscopic interactions between magnons and phonons.

magnetic properties and materials↗
DOE OSTI2025

Exciton dressing by extreme nonlinear magnons in a layered semiconductor

Collective excitations presenting nonlinear dynamics are fundamental phenomena with broad applications. A prime example is nonlinear optics, where diverse frequency mixing processes are central to communication, sensing, wavelength conversion, and attosecond physics. Leveraging recent progress in van der Waals magnetic semiconductors, we demonstrate nonlinear opto-magnonic coupling by presenting exciton states dressed by up to 20 harmonics of magnons, resulting from their nonlinearities, in the layered antiferromagnetic semiconductor CrSBr. We also create tunable optical side bands from sum- and difference-frequency generation between two optically bright magnon modes under symmetry breaking magnetic fields. Moreover, the observed difference-frequency generation mode can be continuously tuned into resonance with one of the fundamental magnons, resulting in parametric amplification of magnons. These findings realize the modulation of the optical frequency exciton with the extreme nonlinearity of magnons at microwave frequencies, which could find applications in magnonics and hybrid quantum systems, and provide new avenues for implementing opto-magnonic devices.

Diederich, Geoffrey M.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Thermodynamics of free and bound magnons in graphene

Symmetry-broken electronic phases support neutral collective excitations. For example, monolayer graphene in the quantum Hall regime hosts a nearly ideal ferromagnetic phase at specific filling factors that spontaneously breaks the spin-rotation symmetry. This ferromagnet has been shown to support spin-wave excitations known as magnons that can be electrically generated and detected. Although long-distance magnon propagation has been demonstrated via transport measurements, important thermodynamic properties of such magnon populations—including the magnon chemical potential and density—have not been measured. Here we present local measurements of electron compressibility under the influence of magnons, which reveal a reduction in the gap associated with the ν = 1 quantum Hall state by up to 20%. Combining these measurements with the estimates of temperature, our analysis reveals that the injected magnons bind to electrons and holes to form skyrmions, and it enables the extraction of free magnon density, magnon chemical potential and average skyrmion spin. Our methods provide a means of probing the thermodynamic properties of charge-neutral excitations that are applicable to other symmetry-broken electronic phases.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Interacting Dirac magnons in the van der Waals ferromagnet CrBr 3

We study the effects of magnon-magnon interactions in the two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnet CrBr 3 focusing on its honeycomb lattice structure. Motivated by earlier theoretical predictions of temperature-induced spectral shifts and van Hove singularities in the magnon dispersion [S. S. Pershoguba et al., Phys. Rev. X 8, 011010 (2018)], we go beyond the commonly used thermal magnon approximation by applying second-order perturbation theory in a fully numerical framework. Our analysis uncovers significant deviations from previous analysis: in particular, the predicted singularities are absent, consistent with recent inelastic neutron scattering measurements [S. E. Nikitin et al ., Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 127201 (2022)]. Moreover, we find that the temperature dependence of the renormalized magnon spectrum exhibits a distinct 𝑇 3 behavior for the optical magnon branch, while retaining 𝑇 2 behavior for the acoustic or down magnon band. This feature sheds light on the collective dynamics of Dirac magnons and their interactions. We further compare the honeycomb case with a triangular Bravais lattice, relevant for ferromagnetic monolayer MnBi 2 ⁢Te 4 , and show that both systems lack singular features while displaying quite distinct thermal trends.

Holstein-Primakoff method↗
DOE OSTI2025

Terahertz stimulated parametric downconversion of a magnon mode in an antiferromagnet

Parametric amplification, where one signal is enhanced by the action of another, offers both practical utility for boosting weak signals and fundamental insights into the nonlinear coupling between degrees of freedom. In condensed matter systems, interactions between collective modes offer avenues for nonlinear coherent manipulation of coupled excitations and quantum phases. Antiferromagnets, with inherently coupled magnon modes, provide a promising platform for nonlinear control of spin waves and magnetization. However, nonlinear magnon-magnon interactions have been only partially elaborated, leaving key gaps in the prospects for potential ultrahigh-bandwidth magnonic signal processing. Here, we excite two distinct coherent magnon modes in an antiferromagnet and find that the magnon mode with a lower frequency undergoes amplification when the higher-frequency mode is driven. We unveil the nonlinear excitation pathways of this stimulated parametric downconversion process by using polarization-selective two-dimensional terahertz spectroscopy. Our work provides fundamental insights into nonlinear magnonics in antiferromagnets, laying the groundwork for forthcoming spintronic and magnonic devices.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Low-Field Regime of Magnon Transport in PLD-Grown YIG Films

The diffusive propagation of magnons in the archetypal magnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) is being actively explored for low-power and low-loss data communication. However, operation under external magnetic fields reduces the magnon diffusion length and attenuates the voltage amplitude at measurement terminals of magnonic devices. Here, we explore the low-field and field-free regime of diffusive magnon transport in YIG films, demonstrating that the field-induced suppression of magnon diffusion length can be fully inhibited only at the zero-field limit. Even a modest field of 10 mT attenuates the nonlocal spin voltage by ~20% in an ~1 μm long transport channel. We further identify the often overlooked in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy as the dominant factor governing magnon transport in the low-field regime. Using Stoner-Wohlfarth macrospin simulations, we quantify the anisotropy parameters and reveal a 10-fold enhancement at low temperatures, a key finding for field-free operation of magnonic devices under cryogenic conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗