Magnetic properties and stress distribution in hydrogenated FeCrB amorphous ribbons

Amorphous Fe₈₅${}_{85}$B₁₅${}_{15}$ and Fe₈₀${}_{80}$Cr_4.3${}_{4.3}$B_15.7${}_{15.7}$ ribbons were hydrogenated from air side. During spontaneous ribbon dehydrogenation, the hydrogen concentration and the constant of anisotropy induced by internal stress were measured and the ribbon bending, characterized by curvature, was recorded. The results obtained indicate that internal stresses in samples under study are proportional to the hydrogen concentration, and hydrogen distribution is not homogeneous in the cross-section of sample. The hydrogen concentration is the largest in the region close to hydrogenated surface. The hydrogen release from this region is very fast and corresponds to the curvature decrease, and it can be, similar to the decrease of total hydrogen concentration, fitted by exponential function.     

Study of surface magnetic properties in Co-rich amorphous microwires

Magneto-optical investigations carried out on a Co-rich glass-covered amorphous microwire is presented. The appearance of circular magnetic bistability and the influence of tensile stress and high-frequency electric current on the surface magnetization reversal have been studied. The change of the mechanism of the magnetization reversal induced by the high-frequency electric current is also discussed.     

Influence of current amplitude on the nonlinear asymmetric ac volt-ampere characteristics in amorphous ribbons with GMI effect

Asymmetric giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect in amorphous ribbons is very promising due to its possible application in developing the highly sensitive linear magnetic-field sensors. In this paper, the model of the nonlinear asymmetric volt-ampere characteristics in field-biased Co-based amorphous ribbon has been established through the time derivative of the longitudinal magnetization component in the ribbon. Its harmonics are also developed by Fourier analysis. The influence of the current amplitude on the nonlinear asymmetric effect has been studied. It is found that when the current amplitude is 8.54 mA, the sensitivity of the first harmonic voltage on the external field is equal to that of the second harmonic voltage. The results obtained are useful for developing the high-sensitive magnetic-field sensors.     

The effect of surface crystalline layers on asymmetric off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons

The off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons was measured using a pick-up coil wound around the sample. One side of a ribbon was etched in hydrofluoric acid solution during various times in order to change the thickness of the surface crystalline layer appearing after annealing. The asymmetric two-peak field dependence of the off-diagonal impedance was observed for all samples. The evolution of the off-diagonal magnetoimpedance with the change in the ribbon thickness is analyzed.     

Determination of the losses induced by irreversible barkhausen jumps of the 180° domain wall moving with a sinusoidal motion in the single domain wall model

The paper presents an analysis of the losses due to irreversible Barkhausen jump of the 180° Bloch wall in the single-domain wall model. The field-intensity and current-density vectors at unit input were determined for a single instantaneous jump. The losses were calculated for the case of the wall moving sinusoidally. The Parseval formula was used at determining the losses, which made it possible to perform calculations. A similar problem was considered by Allia and Vinai who adopted a simplified assumption of the domain of an infinitely long cylindrical shape.     

Crystallization of amorphous Co2MnSi thin film

Amorphous Co₂MnSi thin film was deposited using radio-frequency sputtering. The amorphous film crystallized into a single-phased L2₁ structure at 500 °C, which was highly disordered. The structure was meta-stable as the crystallized film decomposed upon further heating. Increasing the annealing temperature to 600 °C precipitated fcc Co together with Co₂MnSi. Magnetic measurements showed that the as-deposited amorphous film was paramagnetic, exhibiting a spin glass state below 44 K. The phase transition at 500 °C produced a ferromagnetic Co₂MnSi thin film whose saturation magnetic moment was considerably lower than reported values due to the disordered structure of the crystallized film.     

Magnetoelastic interactions in multilayer microwires

Amorphous magnetic microwires exhibit outstanding magnetic characteristics as giant Barkhausen jump or nearly non-hysteretic behaviour that make them very suitable as sensing elements in various devices. In this article, we overview the different families of microwires and summarise most relevant results in connection with the magnetoelastic interlayer interactions in multilayer microwires. Improved magnetic behaviour can be observed in bi-layer microwires consisting of a magnetic nucleus coated by insulating cover. By employing combined sputtering and electroplating techniques, a novel series of multilayered magnetic microwires have been recently introduced. They consist typically of a magnetic nucleus and several shells having insulating and/or metallic nature, the latter magnetic or not. The magnetic character of the multilayer microwire will then depend on the magnetoelastic coupling between layers. External layers induce compressive stresses on the soft amorphous nucleus resulting in induced axial or circular anisotropies depending on magnetostriction sign. In a similar way, reduction of measuring temperature results in tensile stress as a consequence of different thermal expansion coefficients of various layers.     

Depth dependence of Néel wall pinning on amorphous CoxSi1−x films with diluted arrays of elliptical antidots

Diluted arrays of elliptical antidots have been fabricated by optical lithography, electron beam lithography and plasma etching on amorphous Co₇₄Si₂₆ magnetic films with a well-defined uniaxial anisotropy. The magnetic behavior of two identical antidot arrays but with different hole depth in comparison with film thickness has been studied by transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect. Significant differences appear in the coercivity depending on whether the magnetic film is completely perforated or not, indicating a much more effective domain wall pinning process when the depth of the holes is smaller than the magnetic film thickness.     

High-frequency properties of thin amorphous ribbons

Magnetic energy losses have been investigated in Co-based near-zero-magnetostriction amorphous ribbons from DC to 10 MHz. Attention has been devoted to the properties of field-annealed ribbons thinned down to 5.8 μm and their behavior at high frequencies. A rationale is provided for the frequency dependence of the magnetic losses over the investigated many-decade range through analysis of the loss components. Ribbons annealed under transverse field benefit by limited irreversible domain wall activity and correspondingly reduced hysteresis and excess losses. Based on the near-linear response of the material and the permeability–energy loss relationship, the separate contributions of domain wall displacements and rotations to the magnetization process and the related dissipation effects are singled out at all frequencies. Very thin amorphous ribbons are shown to display lower loss and higher permeability (i.e. higher Snoek's product) than Mn–Zn ferrites at all frequencies.     

Ferromagnetism in amorphous Ge1−xMnx grown by low temperature vapor deposition

Magnetic properties of amorphous Ge_1−xMn_x thin films were investigated. The thin films were grown at 373 K on (100) Si wafers by using a thermal evaporator. Growth rate was ∼35 nm/min and average film thickness was around 500 nm. The electrical resistivities of Ge_1−xMn_x thin films are 5.0×10⁻⁴∼100 Ω cm at room temperature and decrease with increasing Mn concentration. Low temperature magnetization characteristics and magnetic hysteresis loops measured at various temperatures show that the amorphous Ge_1−xMn_x thin films are ferromagnetic but the ferromagnetic magnetizations are changing gradually into paramagnetic as increasing temperature. Curie temperature and saturation magnetization vary with Mn concentration. Curie temperature of the deposited films is 80-160 K, and saturation magnetization is 35-100 emu/cc at 5 K. Hall effect measurement at room temperature shows the amorphous Ge_1−xMn_x thin films have p-type carrier and hole densities are in the range from 7×10¹⁷ to 2×10²² cm⁻³.     

Magnetic and electrical properties of amorphous Ge1−xCrx thin films grown by low temperature vapor deposition

Amorphous Ge_1−xCr_x thin films are deposited on (1 0 0)Si by using a thermal evaporator. Amorphous phase is obtained when Cr concentration is lower than 30.7 at%. The electrical resistivities are 1.89×10⁻³–0.96×10² Ω cm at 300 K, and decrease with Cr concentration. The Ge_1−xCr_x thin films are p-type. The hole concentrations are 5×10¹⁶–7×10²¹ cm⁻³ at 300 K, and increase with Cr concentration. Magnetizations are 7.60–1.57 emu/cm³ at 5 K in the applied field of 2 T. The magnetizations decrease with Cr concentration and temperature. Magnetization characteristics show that the Ge_1−xCr_x thin films are paramagnetic.     

Asymmetric impedance in field-annealed Co-based amorphous wires and its bias field dependence

Giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) was measured in Joule heated Co_68.18Fe_4.32Si_12.5B₁₅ amorphous wires. Samples heat treated in open air showed an asymmetric giant magnetoimpedance (AGMI) behaviour. The AGMI profile, measured at selected frequency values and bias circumferential fields, can be related to the exchange bias interaction between the soft magnetic amorphous material and a harder magnetic crystalline phase formed on the surface of the wire. The present data show that AGMI behaviour take place owing to a soft magnetic layer with unidirectional anisotropy that develops in the surface of the wire.     

Effects of helical anisotropy on nonlinear voltage response in amorphous wires

The nonlinear voltage response in soft magnetic amorphous wires exciting by an alternating current is studied. The frequency spectrum of the voltage in the pick-up coil wound around the wire with a helical anisotropy is found in the framework of a model based on quasi-static Stoner−Wohlfarth magnetization reversal. The effect of a deviation of the anisotropy axis from the azimuthal direction on the field dependences of amplitudes of voltage harmonics is analyzed. It is shown that the field sensitivity of even harmonics increases with the anisotropy axis deviation angle. The current amplitude range to obtain a maximal field sensitivity of the second harmonic is found. The influence of the skin effect on the frequency spectrum of the pick-up coil voltage is discussed. The results obtained may be of importance for the development of sensors of a weak magnetic field.     

Formation mechanism of ferromagnetism in Si1−xMnx diluted magnetic semiconductors

Si_1−xMn_x diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) bulks were formed by using an implantation and annealing method. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and double-crystal rocking X-ray diffraction (DCRXD) measurements showed that the grown materials were Si_1−xMn_x crystalline bulks. Hall effect measurements showed that annealed Si_1−xMn_x bulks were p-type semiconductors. The magnetization curve as a function of the magnetic field clearly showed that the ferromagnetism in the annealed Si_1−xMn_x bulks originated from the interaction between interstitial and substitutional Mn⁺ ions, which was confirmed by the DCRXD measurements. The magnetization curve as a function of the temperature showed that the ferromagnetic transition temperature was approximately 75 K. The present results can help to improve understanding of the formation mechanism of ferromagnetism in Si_1−xMn_x DMS bulks.     

Velocity and profile of the boundary between circular domains in cylindrical ferromagnetic samples

The velocity of the boundary between circular domains driven by DC current in a ferromagnetic cylindrical sample (wire) and its profile were calculated up to the first order approximation. The formula for critical current above which the curvature of the CDW can no longer compensate field variations was derived in this approximation. Its value is not more than a few milliamperes for typical stress annealed amorphous wires. Taking into account wall distortion the velocity versus current (circular field) dependence deviates from the linear one and for higher currents (i.e. for higher degree of wall distortion) velocity is higher than for planar CDW.     

Fast domain wall dynamics in amorphous glass-coated microwires

Here we report on the domain wall dynamics in amorphous glass-coated FeCuNbSiB microwires measured in the temperature range from 77 up to 400 K. At low temperatures below 200 K, the domain wall velocity is proportional to the applied magnetic field. At temperatures above 200 K, two regions have been found: one with low domain wall mobility at low fields and another one with high domain wall mobility at high fields. The different regions of the domain wall dynamics are treated in terms of the change of the domain wall configuration from transversal to vortex one. Moreover, non-linear regime is shown at low fields at the temperature 373 K as a result of the domain wall interaction with the local defects.     

On the magnetic and crystallization behaviour of iron based amorphous alloys determined by nuclei quenched in

The tendency of boron-containing, iron-based glasses to show non monotonic changes of Curie Temperature (T _c ) and room temperature saturation magnetization (SM) was examined by magnetic measurements and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Depending on B/Fe ratio theT _c and SM first increased up to a maximum value and then steadily decreased, probably because of a shortrange ordering, due to the strong chemical interaction between iron and boron atoms, leading iron atoms in vicinity with Fe-atoms rather than another TM-atom. Finally, the phenomenon becomes analogous to the order-disorder phenomenon in crystalline alloys. An observed unusual crystallization behaviour, consisting of heterogeneous nucleation, was also ascribed to this ordering, which leads to the formation of associations, acting as the first nuclei of crystallization.     

Preparation of Fe–Si–B–Nb amorphous powder cores with excellent high-frequency magnetic properties

FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores were prepared with the amorphous powder by gas atomization and subsequent hot pressing of resulting powder after creating oxide layers on the amorphous powder. Fully amorphous FeSiBNb powders with good soft magnetic properties were successfully obtained in the particle size range below 100 μm. FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores exhibit stable permeability up to 10 MHz, showing excellent high-frequency characteristics.