Tunable metamaterial response of a Ni80Fe20 antidot lattice for spin waves

All-electrical spin-wave spectroscopy and frequency-resolved magneto-optical Kerr-effect measurements are combined to study spin waves propagating through a magnetic antidot lattice nanopatterned from a Ni80Fe20 thin film. Spin waves are injected from a plain film into the antidot lattice and the transmission across the interface is explored in detail for different wavelengths. We find that spin waves with a wavelength much greater than the lattice periodicity are not described well by recently discussed approaches. Instead the spin-wave dispersion is consistent with an effective magnetization smaller than the saturation magnetization measured on the unstructured ferromagnetic material. Consistently, we find that the transmission coefficients are modeled well by assuming an effectively continuous metamaterial for spin waves characterized by the reduced magnetization. The experimental data and interpretation are substantiated theoretically using the plane-wave method and micromagnetic modeling. The results are interesting for the development of frequency-selective mirrors in magnonics through lateral nanopatterning.