Tunneling of dipolar spin waves through a region of inhomogeneous magnetic field.

We show experimentally and by numerical simulations that spin waves propagating in a magnetic film can pass through a region of a magnetic field inhomogeneity or they can be reflected by the region depending on the sign of the inhomogeneity. If the reflecting region is narrow enough, spin-wave tunneling takes place. We investigate the tunneling mechanism and demonstrate that it has a magnetic dipole origin. Copyright 2004 The American Physical Society