Stokes-anti-Stokes Brillouin intensity asymmetry of spin-wave modes in ferromagnetic films and multilayers

The Stokes-anti-Stokes intensity asymmetry, observed in Brillouin spectra from magnetic excitations, has been investigated experimentally and theoretically in single and multilayer films. In single films our investigation has led to a simple physical picture for the origin of the Stokes-anti-Stokes asymmetry and its dependence on polarization, magnetic field, and scattering geometry. In ferromagnetic bilayers and trilayers, while the full theory is needed to produce a quantitative description of the experimental results, the simple physical picture provides a useful qualitative guide to understanding the results. © 2002 The American Physical Society.