Three-dimensional spin-wave dynamics, localization and interference in a synthetic antiferromagnet.

Spin waves are collective perturbations in the orientation of the magnetic moments in magnetically ordered materials. Their rich phenomenology is intrinsically three-dimensional; however, the three-dimensional imaging of spin waves has so far not been possible. Here, we image the three-dimensional dynamics of spin waves excited in a synthetic antiferromagnet, with nanoscale spatial resolution and sub-ns temporal resolution, using time-resolved magnetic laminography.