  Magnetic damping is a key metric for emerging technologies based on magnetic
nanoparticles, such as spin torque memory and high-resolution biomagnetic
imaging. Despite its importance, understanding of magnetic dissipation in
nanoscale ferromagnets remains elusive, and the damping is often treated as a
phenomenological constant. Here we report the discovery of a giant
frequency-dependent nonlinear damping that strongly alters the response of a
nanoscale ferromagnet to spin torque and microwave magnetic field. This novel
damping mechanism originates from three-magnon scattering that is strongly
enhanced by geometric confinement of magnons in the nanomagnet. We show that
the giant nonlinear damping can invert the effect of spin torque on a
nanomagnet leading to a surprising current-induced enhancement of damping by an
antidamping torque. Our work advances understanding of magnetic dynamics in
nanoscale ferromagnets and spin torque devices.
