Skip to content

MRI-like technique for imaging spin wave transport created

    Researchers have created a magnetic resonance imaging technique that allows to visualize the microwave magnetic stray fields generated by spin waves. Spin waves are promising signal carriers due to their low heat dissipation.

    This technique takes advantage of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers – a lattice defect in the crystal structure of diamond.  “To image these waves, we used a diamond chip in which we created a layer of NV centers,” Van der Sar explains. “We placed this chip on top of a thin magnetic film in which we excited spin waves using electrodes and microwave currents. The NV centers pick up the magnetic fields generated by the spin waves, enabling high resolution spin-wave imaging.”

    This ability to image spin wave transport is crucial for the development of future interference-based spin-wave devices.

    Credit: TU Delft/ Scixel

    More information: Phys.org News – ‘Researchers create MRI-like technique for imaging magnetic waves’ (November 2020)

    Original article:  Iacopo Bertelli et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of spin-wave transport and interference in a magnetic insulator, Science Advances (2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd3556