A research team from Tohoku University, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has invented a new way to efficiently guide spin waves around sharp corners with minimal loss—representing an exciting discovery for energy-efficient computing. Using a two-dimensional magnonic crystal—a copper (Cu) film with a hexagonal array of tiny holes placed on a magnetic garnet film—the team showed through calculations that spin waves travel along a Z-shaped path over 5,000 times more efficiently than in conventional waveguides.

Figure: Schematic of the invented Z-shaped spin wave waveguide based on the 2D magnonic crystal. A Cu film (light pink) perforated with a hexagonal array of micron-sized holes is placed on a magnetic garnet film (black). All holes are connected to each other through thin slits. The Z-shaped region in the center of the Cu film, where the Cu film is removed, forms a "line defect" that serves as the waveguide for spin waves. The dark pink bands at the upper-left and lower-right are microstrip lines used to excite and detect spin waves. ©Taichi Goto

Details of the study were published in the journal Physical Review Applied on MAY 27, 2026.

Publication Details:

Title: Z-shaped waveguides using complete band gaps in magnonic crystals comprising yttrium iron garnets and Cu hole array

Authors: Kanta Mori, Takumi Koguchi, Toshiaki Watanabe, Hibiki Miyashita, Dan Shabaev, Dirk Grundler, Mitsuteru Inoue, Kazushi Ishiyama, Taichi Goto*

Journal: Physical Review Applied

DOI: 10.1103/m64z-lh2m

https://doi.org/10.1103/m64z-lh2m