Merging of spin-wave modes in obliquely magnetized circular nanodots

Magnetic nanoelements attract great interest due to their prospects for data storage and signal processing. Spin-wave confinement in these elements implies wave-number quantization, discrete frequency spectra and thus complex resonance patterns, strongly dependent on the elements' geometry and static magnetic configuration. Here we report experimental observation of unconventional single-frequency resonance response of flat circular Permalloy nanodots, which is achieved via the application of a magnetic field at a certain critical angle (theta) over tilde (B) with respect to the dot normal. This observation is explained as the merging of spin-wave eigenmodes under the transition of the spin-wave dispersion from the forward-volume to the backward-volume type, as elucidated by micromagnetic simulations in conjunction with an analytical theory. Our results offer a way for the creation of spin-wave systems with spectrally narrow magnetic noise.