Title: The Final Chapter In The Saga Of YIG,
Abstract: The magnetic insulator Yttrium Iron Garnet can be grown with exceptional
quality, has a ferrimagnetic transition temperature of nearly 600 K, and is
used in microwave and spintronic devices that can operate at room temperature.
The most accurate prior measurements of the magnon spectrum date back nearly 40
years, but cover only 3 of the lowest energy modes out of 20 distinct magnon
branches. Here we have used time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering to
measure the full magnon spectrum throughout the Brillouin zone. We find that
the existing model of the excitation spectrum, well known from an earlier work
titled "The Saga of YIG", fails to describe the optical magnon modes. Using a
very general spin Hamiltonian, we show that the magnetic interactions are both
longer-ranged and more complex than was previously understood. The results
provide the basis for accurate microscopic models of the finite temperature
magnetic properties of Yttrium Iron Garnet, necessary for next-generation
electronic devices.