Green's function for magnetostatic surface waves and its application to the study of diffraction patterns

摘要

This paper presents the two-dimensional (2D) Green's function (GF) of magnetostatic surface waves (MSSWs) in real space and the frequency domain, i.e., the spatial propagation pattern of MSSWs emitted by a point wave source in a tangentially magnetized slab geometry, including the effect of finite damping. The theory first derives an inhomogeneous differential equation of the spin system under a magnetostatic approximation. This equation is translated into a Sturm-Liouville problem by introducing a Hermitian operator, and solved by the eigenfunction expansion technique, which yields an integral expression of the GF in the form of a 2D inverse Fourier transform. The obtained GF demonstrates various features characteristic of MSSWs, such as strongly anisotropic propagation, angular confinement of energy flow from the wave source whose limit angle is defined as the critical angle for the group velocity θg, and semicaustic beams along θg. We then calculate the1D spatial profiles and 2D diffraction patterns of MSSW propagation by convolving the GF with various wave source distributions, and compare them with experimental results observed on a tangentially magnetized Permalloy film. Comparison between these numerical and experimental results shows excellent agreement.