Engineering spin-wave channels in submicrometer magnonic waveguides

Based on micromagnetic simulations and model calculations, we demonstrate that degenerate well and barrier magnon modes can exist concurrently in a single magnetic waveguide magnetized perpendicularly to the long axis in a broad frequency band, corresponding to copropagating edge and centre spin waves, respectively. The dispersion relations of these magnon modes clearly show that the edge and centre modes possess much different wave characteristics. By tailoring the antenna size, the edge mode can be selectively activated. If the antenna is sufficiently narrow, both the edge and centre modes are excited with considerable efficiency and propagate along the waveguide. By roughening the lateral boundary of the waveguide, the characteristics of the relevant channel can be easily engineered. Moreover, the coupling of the edge and centre modes can be conveniently controlled by scaling the width of the waveguide. For a wide waveguide with a narrow antenna, the edge and centre modes travel relatively independently in spatially-separate channels, whereas for a narrow strip, these modes strongly superpose in space. These discoveries might find potential applications in emerging magnonic devices.