We present a theoretical study of magnetostatic excitations in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic films and in superlattices composed of alternating layers of such materials with paramagnetic and nonmagnetic substances. The motivation for this study is the possibility of observation of these modes of motion in slabs and superlattices of diluted magnetic semiconductors by inelastic light scattering. We classify the excitations in films as ‘‘bulklike’’ and ‘‘surfacelike.’’ Periodic excitations propagating along the growth axis of a superlattice occur which can be classified as ‘‘pure bulk’’ modes if the magnetization of the media behaves sinusoidally in each layer; as ‘‘pure interface’’ modes if they propagate along the boundary separating adjacent layers while their amplitudes decay exponentially within each medium and as ‘‘bulk-interface’’ modes when a behavior occurs having ‘‘bulk’’ character in one medium and ‘‘surface’’ character in the other. We give an analysis of the dispersion relations of these modes and the ranges within which their frequencies lie.

• Received 18 July 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.39.2583