Effect of torsional stresses on the magnetoimpedance of amorphous wires with negative magnetostriction

A model to describe the effect of torsional stresses on the magnetoimpedance of amorphous wires with negative magnetostriction is suggested. An approximate expression for the impedance with regard to the spatial distribution of magnetoelastic anisotropy induced by torsional stresses is derived. It is shown that the relative variation of the impedance is maximal near a critical stress value at which the surface magnetic structure of the wire changes. The calculated dependences of the impedance on the external magnetic field and torsional stress are in good qualitative agreement with experimental data for amorphous wires with negative magnetostriction.     

Recent advances in studies of magnetically soft amorphous microwires

In this paper, we present the giant magneto-impedance (GMI) effect (real part of longitudinal impedance, Z, and of the off-diagonal impedance) and hysteretic magnetic properties of amorphous glass-coated microwires with different compositions possessing nearly zero, positive and negative magnetostriction constant and metallic nucleus diameter ranging between 6 and 16 μm. Enhanced soft magnetic properties (low coercivity of about 4 A/m) and high-GMI effect have been observed in Co-rich microwires with vanishing magnetostriction constant. The magnetic anisotropy field of these microwires depends on the ratio between metallic diameter, d and total microwires diameter, D. Stress-sensitive magnetic properties have been obtained in Fe-rich microwires after stress annealing: hysteresis loop stress-annealed (SA) microwires drastically changes under applied stress. A variety of hysteresis loops with different hysteresis loops can be obtained in Fe-rich microwires changing the conditions (time and/or temperature) of the stress annealing. The obtained results allow us to tailor the microwire magnetic properties for magnetic sensors applications through selection of their composition and/or geometry and by thermal treatment.     

Magnetooptical investigation of the micromagnetic structure and magnetization processes in Co69Fe4Si12B15 amorphous microwires

Magnetooptical investigation of the micromagnetic structure of Co₆₉Fe₄Si₁₂B₁₅ amorphous microwires 10–50 μm in diameter is carried out. The existence of domains with transverse circumferential magnetization is experimentally demonstrated in the near-surface region of microwires. The dependence of the width of circular domains on the length and diameter of wires is obtained. It is shown that the near-surface micromagnetic structure of amorphous wires is changed under a stretch-induced stress. It is proved that the magnetization reversal of microwires in a longitudinal magnetic field occurs due to the rotation of local magnetization vectors in circular domains.     

Co基金属纤维不对称巨磁阻抗效应

以直径32 μm的熔体抽拉Co基非晶金属纤维为研究对象, 分析了该纤维不同激励条件下的巨磁阻抗(giant magneto impedance, GMI)效应. 实验结果表明: 这类纤维的GMI效应具有不对称性特点, 即 AGMI (asymmetric GMI)效应. 同时, 发现AGMI效应随激励条件不同而变化, 随交流频率或者激励幅值升高而逐渐增强; 当存在一定偏置电压时, AGMI效应大幅增强. 通过研究纤维的磁化过程, 分析了Co基金属纤维的AGMI效应. 由于Co基熔体抽拉纤维具有螺旋各向异性以及磁滞的存在使得GMI效应具有不对称性, 频率升高或者激励电流幅值增加有利于壳层畴环向磁化, AGMI增强. 当在纤维两端施加偏置电压时, 偏置电流诱发环向磁场增强了环向磁化, AGMI效应提高; 偏置电压较低时磁场响应灵敏度提高, 同时磁化翻转向高场移动, 阻抗线性变化对应的直流磁场区间增大. 这一方面拓宽了GMI传感器工作区间及灵敏度, 另一方面不利于获得更大的磁场响应灵敏度. 10 MHz (5 mA)激励时, 施加1 V强度的偏置电压后, 对应的磁场灵敏度从616 V/T 提高至5687 V/T; 偏置电压为2 V时, 灵敏度降低到4525 V/T. 因此, 可以通过适当提高环向磁场的方法获得大的磁场响应灵敏度及阻抗变化线性区域.     

Micromagnetic study of magnetic domain structure and magnetization reversal in amorphous wires with circular anisotropy

In this work we present a detailed numerical investigation on the magnetic domain formation and magnetization reversal mechanism in sub-millimeter amorphous wires with negative magnetostriction by means of micromagnetic calculations. The formation of circular magnetic domains surrounding a multidomain axially oriented central nucleus was observed for the micromagnetic model representing the amorphous wire. The magnetization reversal explained by micromagnetic computations for the M-H curve is described in terms of a combined nucleation-propagation−rotational mechanism after the saturated state. Results are interpreted in terms of the effective magnetic anisotropy.     

Magnetic anisotropy of amorphous (Fe1−x Co x )78Si10B12 alloys

In order to better understand the problem of magnetic anisotropy in amorphous alloys produced by a rapidly quenching technique, in-plane magnetic anisotropy of amorphous (Fe_1−x Co _x (₇₈Si₁₀B₁₂ alloys was measured by means of a torque magnetometer using a disk specimen made from the amorphous alloy ribbon. The amorphous ribbons were prepared by a single roller type quenching apparatus. It was found that the anisotropy had mostly twofold symmetry in all the alloy cases, and that the concentrationx dependence of the anisotropy constant behaved differently from that of the magnetostriction. Moreover, the anisotropy did not disappear by subsequent annealing at high temperatures where the internal stress relief and the crystallization were completed.     

Novel trends in the study of magnetically soft Co-based amorphous glass-coated wires

An overview of the recent progress and state-of-the-art results in the investigation of the amorphous glass-coated wires with nearly zero magnetostriction is presented. These versatile microwires display enhanced soft magnetic properties, which make them suitable as sensing elements in various sensors for biomedical and automotive applications. Current results on their magnetic characteristics refer to a major refinement of their core-shell magnetic structure by taking into account the interdomain wall and to the thorough analysis of the magnetization within the outer shell. Experimental techniques such as giant magneto-impedance, magneto-resistance, and magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements are employed to prove the outcome of the theoretical calculations. The impact of the magnetic structure of the outer shell on the propagation of domain walls in bistable amorphous wires is analyzed. Very recent results on the magnetization process in nearly zero magnetostrictive amorphous glass-coated wires with submicron dimensions are also reviewed.     

Microstructure-controlled enhancement of magnetoimpedance in nanocrystalline FeSiNbBCu alloys

Rapidly solidified amorphous Fe_68.5Si_18.5Nb₃B₉Cu₁ ribbon has been subjected to heat treatment at a temperature of 550 °C for different time periods. All the annealed ribbons show the precipitation of nanocrystalline Fe₃Si phase from the amorphous phase. The estimated crystallite size from X-ray diffraction peak analysis was in the range of 15-25 nm. While the surface studies confirm the presence of a distribution of spherical nanostructures in amorphous matrix. Both magnetoimpedance and longitudinal permeability ratios are found to increase with annealing time, and attain a maximum value for 60 min annealed ribbon and decrease on further increase in the annealing time. The enhanced magnetic properties and magnetoimpedance on suitable heat treatment is attributed to the change of magnetic parameters such as anisotropy and magnetostriction, due to change in microstructure. Analysis of permeability and impedance data taken under similar conditions suggests a strong correlation between them.     

The Analysis of Large Barkhausen Effect in the FeSiB Amorphous Wire

Amorphous FeSiB wires with positive magnetostriction are very perspective soft magnetic materials for many applications, e.g. torque, field or current sensors, pulse generators and highly sensitive magnetometers. The appearance of the Large Barkhausen Effect (LBE) during slow magnetization of FeSiB wires is described by means of the core-shell model assuming a residual radial tensile stresses in the as-cast state. In this work, the LBE during magnetization reversal of Fe_77.5Si_7.5B₁₅ amorphous wire in the as-cast state was analysed. We have studied the kinetics of the reverse domain in the core region of the wire by means of Sixtus-Tonks method of two small pick-up coils placed in an asymmetric way with respect to the ends of the wire. We estimated the velocity of the reverse domain wall and the core region volume of the wire. It was found that the residual radial tensile stress distribution of the shell region strongly influences the magnetization reversal in the FeSiB wire.     

Influence of annealing on the magnetoimpedance effect in amorphous FeCoMoSiB ribbons

The effect of annealing by electric current passing through a sample prepared from the amorphous metallic alloy Vitrovac 6025 Z of the composition Fe₄Co₆₇Mo_1.5Si₁₆₅B₁₁ on the form of the dependence of the sample impedance on the external magnetic field is investigated. The results are explained on the basis of the concepts concerning the change in the preferred direction of the sample magnetization.     

Studies of the relaxed amorphous phase in the Fe80Nb6B14 alloy

The paper presents measurements of magnetic permeability, magnetic after-effects, magnetostriction, DSC and XPS for the Fe₈₀Nb₆B₁₄ amorphous alloys preliminary annealed for 1 h at temperatures ranging from 300 to 770 K. It was shown that annealing out of free volume and internal stresses causes a decrease of magnetostriction coefficient and leads to the formation of the energetically stable relaxed amorphous state. The XPS spectra show local fluctuation of boron density. This effect was attributed to the formation of small iron clusters—the characteristic feature for the relaxed amorphous phase.     

Magnetic anisotropy and anisotropic ballistic conductance of thin magnetic wires

The magnetocrystalline anisotropy of thin magnetic wires of iron and cobalt is quite different from the bulk phases. The spin moment of monatomic Fe wire may be as high as 3.4 μ_B, while the orbital moment as high as 0.5 μ_B. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) was calculated for wires up to 0.6 nm in diameter starting from monatomic wire and adding consecutive shells for thicker wires. I observe that Fe wires exhibit the change sign with the stress applied along the wire. It means that easy axis may change from the direction along the wire to perpendicular to the wire. We find that ballistic conductance of the wire depends on the direction of the applied magnetic field, i.e. shows anisotropic ballistic magnetoresistance. This effect occurs due to the symmetry dependence of the splitting of degenerate bands in the applied field which changes the number of bands crossing the Fermi level. We find that the ballistic conductance changes with applied stress. Even for thicker wires the ballistic conductance changes by factor 2 on moderate tensile stain in our 5×4 model wire. Thus, the ballistic conductance of magnetic wires changes in the applied field due to the magnetostriction. This effect can be observed as large anisotropic BMR in the experiment.     

Surface magnetic anisotropy in glass-coated amorphous microwires as determined from ferromagnetic resonance measurements

The ferromagnetic resonance frequency of different Co base glass-coated amorphous magnetic microwires about 3.5 μm in diameter with negative, vanishing and positive magnetostriction has been investigated from power absorption measurements in the microwave frequency range. The experimental technique employed here involves the replacement of the dielectric of a coaxial transmission line by the sample to be measured. From the evolution of the resonance frequency with DC applied magnetic field, the surface magnetic anisotropy field of the microwires has been quantitatively obtained and, as expected, found to depend on the sign and strength of the magnetostriction. Similar values for the surface anisotropy are obtained in comparison with bulk anisotropy as determined from quasi-static hysteresis loops measurements.     

Cylindrical magnetization model for glass-coated microwires with circular anisotropy: Statics

The static magnetization profile of glass-coated microwires with effective circular anisotropy is investigated using micromagnetics. In this family of microwires, the ferromagnetic nucleus with an amorphous character presents a magnetic structure composed of an inner region with axial domains and an outer region with circular domains, due to magnetoelastic anisotropy. A one-dimensional micromagnetic model is developed, taking into account both the exchange and magnetoelastic anisotropy energies, and solved quasi analytically. The total energy, magnetization profiles and magnetization curves are investigated as a function of radius and anisotropy constant of the nucleus. This work represents a fundamental study of the magnetization process in these amorphous microwires and provides guidelines for the production of microwires with tailored magnetic properties. En passant, the nucleation problem in an infinite cylinder, introduced by W.F. Brown, is revisited.     

Magnetic anisotropy,magnetostriction and intermediate range order in Co-P alloys

Coercivity, magnetostriction and saturation field as a measure of magnetic ansitropy energy have been investigated in Co_100-xP_x with 5 ? x ? 26. According to their magnetization curves and coercivities crystalline alloys (5 ? x ? 11) contain hcp-inclusions whereas amorphous material (12 ? x ? 26) is magnetically soft. The saturation magnetization is mainly determined by the nearest neighbour shell but magnetostriction is also correlated with the further environment of the cobalt atoms. The abrupt breakdown of the value |λ_s| of the saturation magnetostriction with increasing phosphorus content of the crystalline alloys points to a growing structural disorder. λ_s of the amorphous material depends on the saturation magnetization alone (λ_s ≈ σ₀²) which decreases with increasing phosphorus content. The small value of λ_s suggests that angular correlations do not exceed the second coordination shell.     

Microwave metamaterials with ferromagnetic microwires

This paper discusses a new type of wire media based on amorphous ferromagnetic microwires. The combination of two effects, namely, a strong dispersion of the effective permittivity in metallic wire composites (resonance or plasmonic type) and giant magnetoimpedance effect in wires, will result in unusual property that an effective dielectric response may strongly depend on the wire magnetization which can be changed with external stimuli: magnetic field, mechanical stress and temperature.     

Magnetic Properties of Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Fe-Zr-B-Al Alloys

We have investigated the influence of aluminium substitution for iron on the magnetic properties of amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe_88-x Zr₇B₅Al _x alloys (x = 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 at.%). Thermomagnetic curves show an increase of Curie and crystallization temperature of amorphous phase with the increase of the content of aluminium in the alloy. The increase of aluminium content up to 3 at.% Al does not cause the decrease of a saturation magnetization in the as-quenched sample. In addition, magnetostriction of the annealed alloys has been studied. Also, the increase of aluminium content in the alloy causes an increase of the magnetostriction constant.     

Magnetic properties and domain structures of FeSiB thin films

Smooth Fe₇₈Si₁₀B₁₂ thin films were prepared by r.f. sputtering with the very slow deposition rate of 0.59 nm/min. The as-deposited films were not fully amorphous, instead α-Fe(Si) nanocrystallites were found to be embedded in the amorphous matrix. The saturation magnetostriction λ_s of the as-deposited film is about 6.5 × 10⁻⁶. After annealing at 540 °C for 1 h in an ultrahigh vacuum (4.5 × 10⁻⁵ Pa), the fraction of α-Fe(Si) crystalline phase largely increased, and correspondingly the λ_s decreased to 4.5 × 10⁻⁷. Ripple domain structures were observed in the as-deposited film, while dense stripe domains were observed in the annealed sample, characterized by a very narrow domain width of 80 nm. (1 1 0) texture and island-like configuration of α-Fe(Si) nanocrystallites formed by the annealing treatment are responsible for the perpendicular anisotropy. For the as-deposited film, the magnetization curves increased linearly with the increase of the magnetic field, and showed the very small hysteresis. On the other hand, the annealed sample clearly showed a very steep jump near the origin, which is due to the switch process of the dense stripe domain.     

Structure,magnetic properties and magnetostriction of Fe81Ga19 thin films

The structure, magnetic properties and magnetostriction of Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ thin films have been investigated by using X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer and capacitive cantilever method. It was found that the grain size of as-deposited Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ thin films is 50–60 nm and the grain size increases with increase in the annealing temperature. The remanence ratio (M_r/M_s) of the thin films slowly decreases with increase in the annealing temperature. However, the coercivity of the thin films goes the opposite way with increase in the annealing temperature. A preferential orientation of the Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ thin film fabricated under an applied magnetic field exists along 〈1 0 0〉 direction due to the function of magnetic field during sputtering. An in-plane-induced anisotropy of the thin film is well formed by the applied magnetic field during the sputtering and the formation of in-plane-induced anisotropy results in 90° rotations of the magnetic domains during magnetization and in the increase of magnetostriction for the thin film.