Christian Riedel

Coupled optical and magnetic excitations can give rise to remarkably strong magneto-optic responses. This is particularly evident in van der Waals magnets, such as the antiferromagnet CrSBr, where excitons and magnons emerge from the same electronic orbitals. While previous work has primarily focused on uncovering the origin of the resulting exciton-magnon interactions, the influence of photonic effects has received comparatively little attention. Here, we use numerical simulations to disentangle exciton-magnon coupling from the exciton-mediated magnon-photon interactions observed in optical experiments. By simulating realistic scenarios using parameters determined by experiments, we illustrate the strong dependence of these interactions on photonic interference and dispersion effects near excitonic resonances. Such effects shape the optical response to coherent magnons and make it intrinsically nonlinear in the magnon-induced exciton energy shift. Thermal magnons, which have a particularly pronounced impact on excitons, are found to even produce qualitatively different trends in optical signatures. Depending on weak or strong coupling of excitons and photons, the same exciton-magnon interaction can lead to a redshift of optical modes, a nearly vanishing response, or their blueshift. Finally, we demonstrate steps towards optimizing the multiparameter problem of efficient magnon-photon transduction using a machine-learning approach.

We experimentally investigate frequency-selective spin wave (SW) transmission in a micrometer-scale, ring-shaped magnonic resonator integrated with a linear yttrium iron garnet stripe. Using super-Nyquist-sampling magneto-optical Kerr effect (SNS-MOKE) microscopyand micro-focused Brillouin light scattering (μ-BLS), we probe SW dynamics in the dipolar regime under in-plane magnetization. Spatially resolved measurements reveal a sharp transmission peak at 3.92 GHz for an external field of 74 mT, demonstrating strong frequency selectivity. This behavior arises from interference and scattering among multiple SW modes in the ring, shaped by anisotropic dispersion, geometric confinement, and local magnetic field inhomogeneities. Caustic-like propagation further limits outcoupling due to fixed group velocity directions. Fourier analysis reveals discrete wavevector components consistent with quantized ring eigenmodes. μ-BLS measurements at 70 mT show a shift of the transmission peak, demonstrating tunability via the external magnetic field.