Spatially resolved GHz magnetization dynamics of a magnetite nano-particle chain inside a magnetotactic bacterium

Understanding magnonic properties of nonperiodic magnetic nanostructures requires real-space imaging of ferromagnetic resonance modes with spatial resolution well below the optical diffraction limit and sampling rates in the 5-100 GHz range. Here, we demonstrate element-specific scanning transmission x-ray microscopy-detected ferromagnetic resonance (STXM-FMR) applied to a chain of dipolarly coupled nano-particles (40-50 nm particle size) inside a single cell of a magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum. The ferromagnetic resonance mode of the nano-particle chain driven at 6.748 GHz and probed with 50 nm x-ray focus size was found to have a uniform phase response but non-uniform amplitude response along the chain segments due to the superposition of dipolar coupled modes of chain segments and individual particles, in agreement with micromagnetic simulations.