Metamaterial Properties of 2D Ferromagnetic Nanostructures: From Continuous Ferromagnetic Films to Magnonic Crystals

In recent years the study of low-dimensional magnetic systems has become topical not only for its several technological applications but also for achieving a deep understanding of the underlying physics of magnetic nanostructures. These efforts have considerably advanced the field of magnetism both theoretically and from an experimental point of view. Very recently, for their challenging features, great attention has been given to the investigation of the static and dynamical properties of magnetic nanostructures with special regard to magnonic crystals, a class of periodic magnetic systems. As shown by micromagnetic and analytical methods, the ferromagnetic materials composing magnonic crystals can be regarded as metamaterials since they exhibit effective properties directly linked, for instance, to the definition of an effective magnetization, an effective permeability, and an effective wavelength. Hence, the aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the recent results obtained on the study of metamaterial properties of two-dimensional ferromagnetic nanostructures ranging from those of thin films to the ones of two-dimensional magnonic crystals. Some possible applications based on the effective properties for tailoring new magnetic devices are suggested.