Antiferromagnetic standing spin waves generated in NiO thin films by short strain pulses

In antiferromagnets, spin dynamics can occur at terahertz (THz) frequencies, but the energy-efficient excitation of antiferromagnetic magnons is challenging. Here, the authors describe the N\'eel vector oscillations induced by acoustic pulses injected into NiO films. Using advanced micromagnetoelastic simulations, they show that picosecond bipolar pulses can efficiently create antiferromagnetic standing spin waves in the single-crystalline NiO films. The results significantly advance both antiferromagnetic magnonics and straintronics by clarifying conditions for the purely magnetoelastic generation of THz magnons and revealing strong strain effects on the spin-wave dispersion in NiO.