Defect-sensitive High-frequency Modes in a Three-Dimensional Artificial Magnetic Crystal

Abstract: Modern three-dimensional nanofabrication methods make it possible to generate arbitrarily shaped nanomagnets, including periodic networks of interconnected magnetic nanowires. Structurally similar to optical or acoustic metamaterials, these arrays could represent magnetic variants of such artificial materials. Using micromagnetic simulations, we investigate a three-dimensional array of interconnected magnetic nanowires with intersection points corresponding to atomic positions of a diamond lattice. The high-frequency excitation spectrum of this artificial magnetic crystal (AMC) is governed by its microstructure and, to a lesser extent, by the magnetic configuration. The magnetic system displays characteristics of three-dimensional artificial spin ice. It can contain Dirac-type magnetic defect structures, which modify the magnonic spectrum of the AMC similarly as defect sites in a natural diamond crystal influence optical absorption spectra. Our study opens new perspectives for applying such materials in high-density magnonic devices and shows that AMCs represent a promising category of magnonic materials with tunable properties.