  We investigate the spin-wave excitation in microscopic waveguides fabricated
by localized Cr+ ion implantation in a ferromagnetic Ni(81)Fe(19) film. We
demonstrate that spin-wave waveguides can be conveniently made by this
technique. The magnetic patterning technique yields an increased damping and a
reduction in saturation magnetization in the implanted regions that can be
extracted from Brillouin light scattering measurements of the spin-wave
excitation spectra. Furthermore, the waveguide performance as well as the
internal field of the waveguide depend on the doping fluence. The results prove
that localized ion implantation is a powerful tool for the patterning of magnon
spintronic devices.
