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Reconstruction of magnon eigenfunctions by X-Ray Magnetic Vector Chronoscopy

Abstract:
The collective precession of magnetization manifests itself as magnon modes. These modes are governed by complex-valued vectorial eigenfunctions, which have remained experimentally challenging to observe. Here we introduce XRay Magnetic Vector Chronoscopy (XMVC), a time-resolved resonant scattering method that reconstructs the full magnetization dynamics with angular resolution of 0.1(±0.01). Applied to a synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) multilayer [Si/NiFe (8 nm)/Ru(0.8 nm)/CoFeB (5.5 nm)], XMVC enables magnon state tomography, by directly measuring the nanoscale vectorial eigenfunctions of hybridized modes arising from magnon-magnon coupling. This approach provides full access to the system’s non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, revealing the complexvalues coupling strengths and non-orthogonal eigenbases. These results establish XMVC as an experimental platform for studying nanoscale spin systems by extracting the eigenfunctions of the system.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1038/s41565-026-02185-2

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Physics
Sub department:
Condensed Matter Physics
Role:
Author


More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/0439y7842
Grant:
EP/W524311/1
2888228
Programme:
Diamond-EPSRC studentship
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/01kjwqy11
Grant:
2025M773402
2025M773358
Programme:
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/027s68j25
Grant:
2022YFA1403602
Programme:
National Key R&D Program of China
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/01h0zpd94
Grant:
12241406
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/034t30j35
Grant:
YSBR-084


Publisher:
Springer Nature
Journal:
Nature Nanotechnology More from this journal
Publication date:
2026-05-27
Acceptance date:
2026-04-23
DOI:
EISSN:
1748-3395
ISSN:
1748-3387


Language:
English
Pubs id:
2410807
Local pid:
pubs:2410807
Deposit date:
2026-04-23
ARK identifier:

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