Reciprocal Damon-Eshbach-type spin wave excitation in a magnonic crystal due to tunable magnetic symmetry

We report spin-wave (SW) propagation in a one-dimensional magnonic crystal (MC) explored by all electrical spectroscopy. The MC consists of a periodic array of 255 nm wide permalloy nanowires with a small edge-to-edge separation of 45 nm. Provoking antiparallel alignment of the magnetization of neighboring nanowires, we unexpectedly find reciprocal excitation of Damon-Eshbach type SWs. The characteristics are in contrast to ferromagnetic thin films and controlled via, both, the external magnetic field and magnetic states. The observed reciprocal excitation is a metamaterial property for SWs and attributed to the peculiar magnetic symmetry of the artificially tailored magnetic material. The findings offer great perspectives for nanoscale SW interference devices.