Spectrum evolution of magnetostatic waves excited through ultrafast laser-induced heating

Abstract We study experimentally the influence of the laser-induced temperature gradient on the parameters of propagating magnetostatic surface waves in thin film of the ferromagnetic metallic alloy Galfenol Fe0.81Ga0.19. The material has a pronounced magnetocrystalline anisotropy and exhibits the long-distance propagation of magnetostatic surface waves excited with femtosecond laser pulses. The excitation pulse heats up the sample locally, what leads to the spatial-temporal change of magnetization and anisotropy parameters of the film, and thus excites the magnetostatic surface waves. We show experimentally that the spectrum of the excited waves narrows as they propagate in such a gradient medium. By changing the orientation of external magnetic field with respect to anisotropy axes of the sample, we control whether the low- or high-frequency part of the spin waves spectrum is suppressed.