Stress-induced large anisotropy field modulation in Ni films deposited on a flexible substrate

A tensile strain on the order of a few percent was created in Ni thin films deposited on a flexible polyethylene naphthalate substrate, and the strain-induced change in the magnetic anisotropy was investigated. The magnetic easy axis was reversibly switched by 90 degrees by the application of the stress. The easy axis was orthogonal to the applied stress. The in-plane saturation magnetic field or the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy energy changed linearly in reaction to the applied tensile strain up to a strain of 2.3%. Moreover, a large difference in the saturation magnetic field up to similar to 0.3 T, which corresponds to a change in the magnetic anisotropy energy of similar to 7 x 10(4) J/m(3), was realized. The effective magnetoelastic coupling constant was almost independent of the thickness of Ni. Published by AIP Publishing.