Magnetic bistability of glass-covered Fe-rich amorphous microwire: influence of heating treatments and applied tensile stress

The influence of heat treatments and mechanical stresses on the magnetic behaviour of an Fe-rich glass-covered amorphous ferromagnetic microwire (diameter about 20 mm) is reported here. The behaviour is characterized by a magnetization process with a single and large Barkhausen jump at a given applied field. For the as-prepared material, the switching held corresponding to this bistable behaviour is around 100 A m(-1) and can be significantly modified by adequate heating treatments as well as by application of mechanical stresses. These changes are discussed in terms of the modification of the internal stresses. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.