Observation of spatiotemporal self-focusing of spin waves in magnetic films

The first observation of spatiotemporal self-focusing of spin waves is reported. The experimental results are obtained for dipolar spin waves in yttrium-iron-garnet films by means of a newly developed space- and time-resolved Brillouin light scattering technique. They demonstrate self-focusing of a moving wave pulse in two spatial dimensions, and formation of localized two-dimensional wave packets, the collapse of which is stopped by dissipation. The experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with numerical simulations.