Magnetoelastic effect with Surface Acoustic Waves in Nickel

Abstract

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) are micrometric strain waves that propagate on the surface of a solid. They are good for a number of applications and have recently been used for their ability to couple with magnetic states in magnetostrictive materials. In this paper we study the SAW absorption of a magnetic material (Nickel) and find the angle dependence between the SAW propagation direction and the magnetic field orientation. We find that when SAW and the magnetic field are perpendicular or parallel there is no power absorption, but a maximum appears at 45 degrees. Furthermore, there is a dependence with the strength of the magnetic field. At high enough fields the magnetic moments are saturated and have enough energy to overcome the coupling generated by SAW, whereas at lower magnetic fields there is SAW attenuation and a maximum appears at a resonant frequency