Magnetostriction of Co–Fe-Based Amorphous Soft Magnetic Microwires

We studied the correlation between magnetic softness and magnetostriction coefficient for as-prepared and annealed Co–Fe-rich microwires. We found that the hysteresis loops and magnetostriction coefficients of Co and Fe-rich microwires depend not only on the chemical composition of the metal but also on internal stress. Consequently, both hysteresis loop and magnetostriction coefficient can be adjusted by annealing. We varied the time and temperature of annealing and observed changes of the character of the hysteresis loops. These changes correlated with evolution of the magnetostriction coefficient. Drastic changes of the hysteresis loop for Co-rich microwires were attributed to changes of the sign and value of the magnetostriction coefficient.