Faster, farther, stronger: spin transfer torque driven high order propagating spin waves in nano-contact magnetic tunnel junctions

Short wave-length exchange-dominated propagating spin waves will enable magnonic devices to operate at higher frequencies and higher data transmission rates.1 While GMR based magnetic nano-contacts are highly efficient injectors of propagating spin waves2,3, the generated wave lengths are 2.6 times the nano-contact diameter4, and the electrical signal strength remains much too weak for practical applications. Here we demonstrate nano-contact based spin wave generation in magnetic tunnel junction stacks, and observe large discrete frequency steps consistent with the hitherto ignored possibility of second and third order propagating spin waves with wave lengths of 120 and 74 nm, i.e. much smaller than the 150 nm nano-contact. These higher-order propagating spin waves will not only enable magnonic devices to operate at much higher frequencies, but also greatly increase their transmission rates and spin wave propagating lengths, both proportional to the much higher group velocity.