Harmonic and Subharmonic Magnon Generation in a Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator

Abstract

We experimentally observe the generation of magnon harmonics and subharmonics in an on-chip surface acoustic wave resonator incorporating a thin Co$_{20}$Fe$_{60}$B$_{20}$ film, using micro-focused Brillouin light scattering. In our devices, rotating the in-plane magnetic field allows continuous tuning of the magnon-phonon coupling from weak to strong within the same resonator. In the weak coupling regime, we only observe fundamental magnetoelastic wave signal at $f_{1}$. Conversely, in the strong coupling regime, in addition to the fundamental magnetoelastic wave, we observe subharmonic and harmonic signals at $3/2f_{1}$, $2f_{1}$, and $3f_{1}$, which are well reproduced by our analytical model. Our results establish phonons as a means to generate and control nonlinear magnons in the strong coupling regime, providing a new route for magnonic signal processing.