Hartman effect for spin waves in exchange regime

Sci Rep. 2018 Dec 18;8(1):17944. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35761-1.

Abstract

Hartman effect for spin waves tunnelling through a barrier in a thin magnetic film is considered theoretically. The barrier is assumed to be created by a locally increased magnetic anisotropy field. The considerations are focused on a nanoscale system operating in the exchange-dominated regime. We derive the formula for group delay τgr of a spin wave packet and show that τgr saturates with increasing barrier width, which is a signature of the Hartman effect predicted earlier for photonic and electronic systems. In our calculations, we consider the general boundary conditions which take into account different strength of exchange coupling between the barrier and its surrounding. As a system suitable for experimental observation of the Hartman effect we propose a CoFeB layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy induced by a MgO overlayer.