  The spin-wave relaxation mechanisms after intense laser excitation in
ferromagnetic nickel films are investigated with all-optical pump-probe
experiments. Uniform precession (Kittel mode), Damon-Eshbach surface modes and
perpendicular standing spin waves can be identified by their dispersion f(H).
However, different to other ferromagnets f(H) deviates from the expected
behavior. Namely, a mode discontinuity is observed, that can be attributed to a
non-linear process. Above a critical field the power spectrum reveals a
redistribution of the energy within the spin-wave spectrum populated.
