- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review B

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Letter
  • Open Access

Deeply nonlinear magnon-photon hybrid excitation

Dinesh Wagle1,*,†, Anish Rai1, and M. Benjamin Jungfleisch1,2,‡

  • *Contact author: wagled@udel.edu
  • †Present address: Laboratory for Physical Sciences, 8050 Greenmead Drive, College Park, MD 20740, USA.
  • ‡Contact author: jungfleisch@tugraz.at
PDF

Phys. Rev. B 114, L200402 – Published 9 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/h1pp-by3q

Abstract

We investigate the microwave-power dependence of magnon-photon coupling in a yttrium iron garnet-sphere/split-ring resonator hybrid system at room temperature and demonstrate that nonlinear spin-wave interactions suppress the coupling through power-induced dissipation of magnetostatic modes. At low microwave power, the modes exhibit pronounced level repulsion, evidencing strong coupling to the microwave field. As the power increases, however, magnon-linewidth broadening progressively weakens the coupling and ultimately suppresses it entirely below a threshold external magnetic field. We show that this behavior originates from Suhl's first-order instability: Magnetostatic modes, which couple to the resonator, parametrically excite two counterpropagating magnons at half their frequency, causing modes below the threshold external magnetic field to vanish. In contrast, magnon modes above the threshold field remain robust even at high power, as the instability criterion is not satisfied in that regime. These results reveal a well-defined nonlinear boundary for magnon-photon coupled systems and highlight a favorable regime for exploiting nonlinear magnonics for frequency conversion, switching, and other functional magnonic devices.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (54)

  1. V. A. Shklovskij, V. V. Mezinova, and O. V. Dobrovolskiy, Nonlinear relaxation between magnons and phonons in insulating ferromagnets, Phys. Rev. B 98, 104405 (2018).
  2. O. Lee, K. Yamamoto, M. Umeda, C. W. Zollitsch, M. Elyasi, T. Kikkawa, E. Saitoh, G. E. W. Bauer, and H. Kurebayashi, Nonlinear magnon polaritons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 046703 (2023).
  3. Z. Wang, H. Y. Yuan, Y. Cao, Z.-X. Li, R. A. Duine, and P. Yan, Magnonic frequency comb through nonlinear magnon-skyrmion scattering, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 037202 (2021).
  4. S. Lendinez, M. T. Kaffash, O. G. Heinonen, S. Gliga, E. Iacocca, and M. B. Jungfleisch, Nonlinear multi-magnon scattering in artificial spin ice, Nat. Commun. 14, 3419 (2023).
  5. H. Yuan, Y. Cao, A. Kamra, R. A. Duine, and P. Yan, Quantum magnonics: When magnon spintronics meets quantum information science, Phys. Rep. 965, 1 (2022).
  6. T. Nikuni, M. Oshikawa, A. Oosawa, and H. Tanaka, Bose-Einstein condensation of dilute magnons in TlCuCl3, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5868 (2000).
  7. S. O. Demokritov, V. E. Demidov, O. Dzyapko, G. A. Melkov, A. A. Serga, B. Hillebrands, and A. N. Slavin, Bose–Einstein condensation of quasi-equilibrium magnons at room temperature under pumping, Nature (London) 443, 430 (2006).
  8. D. A. Bozhko, A. A. Serga, P. Clausen, V. I. Vasyuchka, F. Heussner, G. A. Melkov, A. Pomyalov, V. S. L'vov, and B. Hillebrands, Supercurrent in a room-temperature Bose–Einstein magnon condensate, Nat. Phys. 12, 1057 (2016).
  9. E. Sonin, Spin currents and spin superfluidity, Adv. Phys. 59, 181 (2010).
  10. W. Yuan, Q. Zhu, T. Su, Y. Yao, W. Xing, Y. Chen, Y. Ma, X. Lin, J. Shi, R. Shindou, X. C. Xie, and W. Han, Experimental signatures of spin superfluid ground state in canted antiferromagnet Cr2O3 via nonlocal spin transport, Sci. Adv. 4, eaat1098 (2018).
  11. T. L. Gilbert, Classics in magnetics a phenomenological theory of damping in ferromagnetic materials, IEEE Trans. Magn. 40, 3443 (2004).
  12. Ádám Papp, W. Porod, and G. Csaba, Nanoscale neural network using non-linear spin-wave interference, Nat. Commun. 12, 6422 (2021).
  13. A. G. Gurevich and G. A. Melkov, Magnetization Oscillations and Waves (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1996)
  14. K. O. Nikolaev, S. R. Lake, G. Schmidt, S. O. Demokritov, and V. E. Demidov, Resonant generation of propagating second-harmonic spin waves in nano-waveguides, Nat. Commun. 15, 1827 (2024).
  15. C. W. Sandweg, Y. Kajiwara, A. V. Chumak, A. A. Serga, V. I. Vasyuchka, M. B. Jungfleisch, E. Saitoh, and B. Hillebrands, Spin pumping by parametrically excited exchange magnons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 216601 (2011).
  16. M. H. Anderson, J. R. Ensher, M. R. Matthews, C. E. Wieman, and E. A. Cornell, Observation of Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute atomic vapor, Science 269, 198 (1995).
  17. C. Mathieu, V. T. Synogatch, and C. E. Patton, Brillouin light scattering analysis of three-magnon splitting processes in yttrium iron garnet films, Phys. Rev. B 67, 104402 (2003).
  18. C. L. Ordóñez-Romero, B. A. Kalinikos, P. Krivosik, W. Tong, P. Kabos, and C. E. Patton, Three-magnon splitting and confluence processes for spin-wave excitations in yttrium iron garnet films: Wave vector selective Brillouin light scattering measurements and analysis, Phys. Rev. B 79, 144428 (2009).
  19. H. Kurebayashi, O. Dzyapko, V. E. Demidov, D. Fang, A. J. Ferguson, and S. O. Demokritov, Controlled enhancement of spin-current emission by three-magnon splitting, Nat. Mater. 10, 660 (2011).
  20. S. M. Rezende and F. M. de Aguiar, Spin-wave instabilities, auto-oscillations, and chaos in yttrium-iron-garnet, Proc. IEEE 78, 893 (1990).
  21. H. Schultheiss, X. Janssens, M. van Kampen, F. Ciubotaru, S. J. Hermsdoerfer, B. Obry, A. Laraoui, A. A. Serga, L. Lagae, A. N. Slavin, B. Leven, and B. Hillebrands, Direct current control of three magnon scattering processes in spin-valve nanocontacts, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 157202 (2009).
  22. T. Qu, Y. Xiong, X. Zhang, Y. Li, and W. Zhang, Pump-induced magnon anticrossing due to three-magnon splitting and confluence, Phys. Rev. B 111, L180410 (2025).
  23. H. Suhl, The theory of ferromagnetic resonance at high signal powers, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 1, 209 (1957).
  24. H.-A. Krug von Nidda, G. Wiese, and H. Benner, Critical modes at the first-order Suhl instability in YIG spheres, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 140-144, 1997 (1995).
  25. H.-A. Krug von Nidda, G. Wiese, and H. Benner, Fine structure and critical modes at the first-order Suhl instability in YIG spheres, Z. Phys. B 95, 55 (1994).
  26. J. W. Rao, B. Yao, C. Y. Wang, C. Zhang, T. Yu, and W. Lu, Unveiling a pump-induced magnon mode via its strong interaction with Walker modes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 046705 (2023).
  27. C. Wang, J. Rao, Z. Chen, K. Zhao, L. Sun, B. Yao, T. Yu, Y.-P. Wang, and W. Lu, Enhancement of magnonic frequency combs by exceptional points, Nat. Phys. 20, 1139 (2024).
  28. C. Zhang, J. Rao, C. Y. Wang, Z. J. Chen, K. X. Zhao, B. Yao, X.-G. Xu, and W. Lu, Control of magnon-polariton hybridization with a microwave pump, Phys. Rev. Appl. 20, 024074 (2023).
  29. J. O. Artman and P. E. Tannenwald, Measurement of permeability tensor in ferrites, Phys. Rev. 91, 1014 (1953).
  30. Ö. O. Soykal and M. E. Flatté, Strong field interactions between a nanomagnet and a photonic cavity, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 077202 (2010).
  31. X. Zhang, C.-L. Zou, L. Jiang, and H. X. Tang, Strongly coupled magnons and cavity microwave photons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 156401 (2014).
  32. A. V. Chumak, V. I. Vasyuchka, A. A. Serga, and B. Hillebrands, Magnon spintronics, Nat. Phys. 11, 453 (2015).
  33. B. Zare Rameshti, S. Viola Kusminskiy, J. A. Haigh, K. Usami, D. Lachance-Quirion, Y. Nakamura, C.-M. Hu, H. X. Tang, G. E. W. Bauer, and Y. M. Blanter, Cavity magnonics, Phys. Rep. 979, 1 (2022).
  34. D. Lachance-Quirion, S. P. Wolski, Y. Tabuchi, S. Kono, K. Usami, and Y. Nakamura, Entanglement-based single-shot detection of a single magnon with a superconducting qubit, Science 367, 425 (2020).
  35. D. Xu, X.-K. Gu, H.-K. Li, Y.-C. Weng, Y.-P. Wang, J. Li, H. Wang, S.-Y. Zhu, and J. Q. You, Quantum control of a single magnon in a macroscopic spin system, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 193603 (2023).
  36. N. Zhu, X. Zhang, X. Han, C.-L. Zou, C. Zhong, C.-H. Wang, L. Jiang, and H. X. Tang, Waveguide cavity optomagnonics for microwave-to-optics conversion, Optica 7, 1291 (2020).
  37. D. Zhang, X.-Q. Luo, Y.-P. Wang, T.-F. Li, and J. You, Observation of the exceptional point in cavity magnon-polaritons, Nat. Commun. 8, 1368 (2017).
  38. B. Bhoi and S.-K. Kim, Photon-magnon coupling: Historical perspective, status, and future directions, in Recent Advances in Topological Ferroics and their Dynamics, edited by R. L. Stamps and H. Schultheiß, Solid State Physics, Vol. 70 (Academic Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019), Chap. I, pp. 1–77.
  39. D. D. Awschalom, C. R. Du, R. He, F. J. Heremans, A. Hoffmann, J. Hou, H. Kurebayashi, Y. Li, L. Liu, V. Novosad, et al., Quantum engineering with hybrid magnonic systems and materials (invited paper), IEEE Trans. Quantum Eng. 2, 1 (2021).
  40. Y. Li, T. Polakovic, Y.-L. Wang, J. Xu, S. Lendinez, Z. Zhang, J. Ding, T. Khaire, H. Saglam, R. Divan, J. Pearson, W.-K. Kwok, Z. Xiao, V. Novosad, A. Hoffmann, and W. Zhang, Strong coupling between magnons and microwave photons in on-chip ferromagnet-superconductor thin-film devices, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 107701 (2019).
  41. Y. Li, W. Zhang, V. Tyberkevych, W.-K. Kwok, A. Hoffmann, and V. Novosad, Hybrid magnonics: Physics, circuits, and applications for coherent information processing, J. Appl. Phys. 128, 130902 (2020).
  42. P. C. Fletcher and N. Silence, Subsidiary absorption above ferrimagnetic resonance, J. Appl. Phys. 32, 706 (1961).
  43. D. Wagle, A. Rai, M. T. Kaffash, and M. B. Jungfleisch, Controlling magnon-photon coupling in a planar geometry, J. Phys.: Mater. 7, 025005 (2024).
  44. L. R. Walker, Resonant modes of ferromagnetic spheroids, J. Appl. Phys. 29, 318 (1958).
  45. P. C. Fletcher and R. O. Bell, Ferrimagnetic resonance modes in spheres, J. Appl. Phys. 30, 687 (1959).
  46. P. Fletcher, I. H. Solt, and R. Bell, Identification of the magnetostatic modes of ferrimagnetic resonant spheres, Phys. Rev. 114, 739 (1959).
  47. A. Leo, A. G. Monteduro, S. Rizzato, L. Martina, and G. Maruccio, Identification and time-resolved study of ferrimagnetic spin-wave modes in a microwave cavity in the strong-coupling regime, Phys. Rev. B 101, 014439 (2020).
  48. M. T. Kaffash, D. Wagle, A. Rai, T. Meyer, J. Q. Xiao, and M. B. Jungfleisch, Direct probing of strong magnon–photon coupling in a planar geometry, Quantum Sci. Technol. 8, 01LT02 (2023).
  49. Y.-P. Wang, G.-Q. Zhang, D. Zhang, T.-F. Li, C.-M. Hu, and J. Q. You, Bistability of cavity magnon polaritons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 057202 (2018).
  50. Y.-P. Wang, G.-Q. Zhang, D. Zhang, X.-Q. Luo, W. Xiong, S.-P. Wang, T.-F. Li, C.-M. Hu, and J. Q. You, Magnon Kerr effect in a strongly coupled cavity-magnon system, Phys. Rev. B 94, 224410 (2016).
  51. I. Boventer, M. Pfirrmann, J. Krause, Y. Schön, M. Kläui, and M. Weides, Complex temperature dependence of coupling and dissipation of cavity magnon polaritons from millikelvin to room temperature, Phys. Rev. B 97, 184420 (2018).
  52. H. J. J. Liu, G. A. Riley, C. L. Ordóñez-Romero, B. A. Kalinikos, and K. S. Buchanan, Time-resolved study of nonlinear three-magnon processes in yttrium iron garnet films, Phys. Rev. B 99, 024429 (2019).
  53. M. Arfini, A. Bermejillo-Seco, A. Bondarenko, C. A. Potts, Y. M. Blanter, H. S. J. van der Zant, and G. A. Steele, Magnon-magnon interaction induced by nonlinear spin-wave dynamics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 166703 (2025).
  54. M. B. Jungfleisch, Deeply nonlinear magnon-photon hybrid excitation [Dataset], OSF, 2026, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/QGXFW.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. B 114, L200402– Published 9 October, 2026
  • Received 26 January 2026
  • Accepted 23 September 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation