Fe-rich Microwires Research Articles

Controlling of the single domain wall propagation in magnetic microwires by magnetostatic interaction

Ultrafast magnetization switching through the single domain wall (DW) propagation has been reported in amorphous micrometric and submicrometric wires. However the performance of prospective devices utilizing DW propagation is determined by the degree to which DW propagation can be controlled. In this article, we propose a novel method for effectively controlling the single DW propagation in a specially designed array consisting of two magnetic microwires by the stray field from magnetically softer microwires. We have experimentally demonstrated that the DW velocity of magnetically harder Fe-rich microwire in such a linear array is affected by the stray field of magnetically softer Co-rich microwire. Additionally, the domain wall can be trapped in the Fe-rich microwire by the stray field produced by the Co-rich microwire in such a linear array. The observed effect of magnetostatic interaction depends on the position of the Co-rich microwire in such a linear array. Controllable domain wall propagation observed in such a linear array can be a useful tool for simple and more flexible ways of controllable trapping and braking of single DWs in Fe-rich microwires showing spontaneous magnetic bistability.

Optimization of Giant Magnetoimpedance Effect of Amorphous Microwires by Postprocessing

Magnetic microwires with amorphous structures can present a unique combination of excellent magnetic softness and giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effects together with reduced dimensions and good mechanical properties. Such unique properties make them suitable for various technological applications. The high GMI effect, observed in as-prepared Co-rich microwires, can be further optimized by postprocessing. However, unexpected magnetic hardening and a transformation of the linear hysteresis loop into a rectangular loop with a coercivity on the order of 90 A/m were observed in several Co-rich microwires upon conventional annealing. Several routes to improve magnetic softness and GMI effect in Fe- and Co-rich magnetic microwires are provided. We observed that stress annealing could remarkably improve the magnetic softness and GMI ratio of Co-rich microwires. Thus, almost unhysteretic loops with a coercivity of 2 A/m and a magnetic anisotropy field of about 70 A/m are achieved in Co-rich microwires stress annealed at appropriate conditions. The observed change in hysteresis loops and the GMI effect is explained by stress-annealing-induced anisotropy, which is affected by the stresses applied during annealing and by the annealing temperature. While as-prepared Fe-rich amorphous microwires present a low GMI effect, appropriate postprocessing (annealing and stress annealing) allows for a remarkable GMI ratio improvement (an order of magnitude). The evaluated dependence of the maximum GMI ratio on frequency allows the identification of the optimal frequency band for the studied samples. The origin of stress-annealing-induced anisotropy and related changes in hysteresis loops and the GMI effect are discussed in terms of the relaxation of internal stresses, “back-stresses”, as well as structural anisotropy.

Anomalous Magnetic Anisotropy Behaviour in Co-Rich and Fe-Rich Glass-Coated Microwires under Applied Stress.

In this article, we study the effect of annealing temperature and applied stress on the magnetic properties of Fe71.80B13.27Si11.02Nb2.99Ni0.92 and Co65.34Si12.00B10.20Cr8.48Fe3.90Mo0.08 microwires. An anomalous behavior of the coercive field is observed while applying stress, indicating nontrivial changes in the microwire magnetic anisotropy. The effect of applied stimuli on the magnetic anisotropy and magnetostriction constant in both microwires is also discussed.

Optimization of Magnetoimpedance Effect and Magnetic Properties of Fe-Rich Glass-Coated Microwires by Annealing.

As-prepared Fe-rich microwires with perfectly rectangular hysteresis loops present magnetization reversal through fast domain wall propagation, while the giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect in Fe-rich microwires is rather low. However, the lower cost of Fe-rich microwires makes them attractive for magnetic sensors applications. We studied the effect of conventional (furnace) annealing and Joule heating on magnetic-propertied domain wall (DW) dynamics and the GMI effect in two Fe microwires with different geometries. We observed that magnetic softness, GMI effect and domain wall (DW) dynamics can be substantially improved by appropriate annealing. Observed experimental results are discussed considering the counterbalance between the internal stresses relaxation and induced magnetic anisotropy associated with the presence of an Oersted magnetic field during Joule heating.

Effect of temperature on magnetic properties and magnetoimpedance effect in Fe-rich microwires

Herein, the temperature dependence of hysteresis loops and the Giant magnetoimpedance, GMI, effect of amorphous as-prepared and stress-annealed FeSiBC microwires have been thoroughly analyzed. We observed a remarkable improvement of GMI ratio and modification of hysteresis loops from rectangular to inclined with increase in temperature for as-prepared FeSiBC microwires. Observed changes have almost completely reversible character. On the other hand, rather different behavior is observed in stress-annealed FeSiBC microwires: a substantial GMI ratio improvement is observed in stress-annealed FeSiBC microwires. However, a decrease in GMI effect is observed with temperature increasing. Observed experimental results are discussed considering relaxation of internal stresses upon heating, Hopkinson effect and modification of the thermal expansion coefficients upon heating.

Measurements of Stray Magnetic Fields of Fe-Rich Amorphous Microwires Using a Scanning GMI Magnetometer

A scanning magnetometer based on a magnetoimpedance sensor with a 1 mm spatial resolution and 10 nT sensitivity was used to study stray magnetic fields of Fe74B13Si11C2 amorphous ferromagnetic microwires. Spatial magnetic images and vertical component profiles of stray magnetic fields of the studied microwires were obtained in a longitudinal homogeneous magnetic field of Helmholtz coils with a strength in the range of ±600 A/m. A magnetic calculation method is suggested that allows for using the measured magnetic fields to determine the magnitude and pattern of magnetization for the microwire. Characteristic values of the microwires’ average magnetization and width of closure domains for various values of bias fields were found.

The Effect of Torsional Stresses on the Giant Magnetoimpedance of Amorphous Microwires with Induced Magnetic Anisotropy

The paper presents a theoretical study of the effect of torsional stresses on the giant magnetoimpedance of a Fe-rich amorphous microwire with helicoidal anisotropy induced in the surface layer as a result of annealing. It is shown that torsional stresses lead to a change in the shape of the dependence of the impedance of the microwire on an external field at relatively low frequencies of the excitation current. Thechange in impedance is maximal near the stress value at which an effective circular anisotropy in the surface region of the microwire appears. The results can be used to create stress and weak magnetic field sensors.

Effect of applied stresses on magnetic properties of Co and Fe-rich glass-coated microwires

In this article we evaluate the possibility of using glass coated magnetic microwires as an alternative to optical fiber devices in structural health monitoring in the railway industry. The effect of applied stress on hysteresis loops of Fe71.80B13.27Si11.02Nb2.99Ni0.92 and Co65.34Si12.00B10.20Cr8.48Fe3.90Mo0.08 microwires has been studied and analyzed. An interpolation function has been obtained relating the coercitivity Hc with the applied stress.

Off-Diagonal Magnetoimpedance in Annealed Amorphous Microwires with Positive Magnetostriction: Effect of External Stresses

It was observed recently that the giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect in Fe-rich glass-coated amorphous microwires with positive magnetostriction can be improved significantly by means of post-annealing. The increase in the GMI is attributed to the induced helical magnetic anisotropy in the surface layer of the microwire, which appears after the annealing. The application of external stresses to the microwire may result in changes in its magnetic structure and affect the GMI response. In this work, we study theoretically the influence of the tensile and torsional stresses on the off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in annealed amorphous microwires with positive magnetostriction. The static magnetization distribution is analyzed in terms of the core–shell magnetic structure. The surface impedance tensor is obtained taking into account the magnetoelastic anisotropy induced by the external stresses. It is shown that the off-diagonal magnetoimpedance response exhibits strong sensitivity to the magnitude of the applied stress. The obtained results may be useful for sensor applications of amorphous microwires.

Temperature influence on magnetic properties and magnetoimpedance effect of Fe-rich glass-coated microwires

Giant magnetoimpedance, GMI, effect and magnetic properties upon temperature influence of as-prepared and stress-annealed amorphous Fe75B9Si12C4 glass-coated microwires produced by the Taylor-Ulitovsky technique are analyzed. Remarkable change in the hysteresis loops and GMI effect is observed for both samples upon heating. Tuning of the stress-annealing conditions allows one to vary the temperature dependence. Furthermore, it is observed almost complete reversibility of the changes induced by the temperature. Observed dependences are explained by the heating effect on the internal stresses relaxation, by the modification of the thermal expansion coefficients of the metallic nucleus and the glass coating, and by the Hopkinson effect.

Domain wall propagation in Fe-rich magnetic microwires with graded magnetic anisotropy

We observed that stress-annealing of Fe75B9Si12C4 magnetic microwire at variable annealing temperature allows to create graded magnetic anisotropy. We have found that single domain wall (DW) propagation in a media with graded magnetic anisotropy is essentially non-uniform: faster DW propagation is observed in the region with moderate stress-annealing induced magnetic anisotropy. Higher DW velocity in the region with induced magnetic anisotropy is explained by the transverse character of stress-annealing induced magnetic anisotropy which affects the travelling DW in a similar way as application of transversal bias magnetic field. Obtained graded magnetic anisotropy allows engineering the DW dynamics of Fe-rich microwires.

Effect of Joule heating on GMI and magnetic properties of Fe-rich glass-coated microwires

Influence of Joule heating on magnetic properties and GMI effect of Fe75B9Si12C4 glass-coated microwires was studied. A decrease in coercivity after Joule heating is observed, while hysteresis loops of Joule heated samples maintain a rectangular shape. However, a remarkable increase in GMI ratio is observed in Joule heated samples. Observed GMI ratio improvement has been discussed considering magnetic anisotropy induced by Oersted magnetic field during Joule heating and internal stress relaxation. A remarkable GMI effect improvement observed in Joule heated Fe-rich microwires, along the fact that Fe is a more common, less expensive metal than Co, makes them suitable for magnetic sensor applications.

Tuning of Magnetoimpedance Effect and Magnetic Properties of Fe-Rich Glass-Coated Microwires by Joule Heating.

The influence of Joule heating on magnetic properties, giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect and domain wall (DW) dynamics of Fe75B9Si12C4 glass-coated microwires was studied. A remarkable (up to an order of magnitude) increase in GMI ratio is observed in Joule heated samples in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 1 GHz. In particular, an increase in GMI ratio, from 10% up to 140% at 200 MHz is observed in Joule heated samples. Hysteresis loops of annealed samples maintain a rectangular shape, while a slight decrease in coercivity from 93 A/m to 77 A/m, after treatment, is observed. On the other hand, a modification of MOKE hysteresis loops is observed upon Joule heating. Additionally, an improvement in DW dynamics after Joule heating is documented, achieving DW propagation velocities of up to 700 m/s. GMI ratio improvement along with the change in MOKE loops and DW dynamics improvement have been discussed considering magnetic anisotropy induced by Oersted magnetic fields in the surface layer during Joule heating and internal stress relaxation. A substantial GMI ratio improvement observed in Fe-rich Joule-heated microwires with a rectangular hysteresis loop and fast DW propagation, together with the fact that Fe is a more common and less expensive metal than Co, make them suitable for use in magnetic sensors.

Development of Magnetically Soft Amorphous Microwires for Technological Applications

Amorphous magnetic microwires can be suitable for a variety of technological applications due to their excellent magnetic softness and giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect. Several approaches for optimization of soft magnetic properties and GMI effect of magnetic microwires covered with an insulating, flexible, and biocompatible glass coating with tunable magnetic properties are overviewed. The high GMI effect and soft magnetic properties, achieved even in as-prepared Co-rich microwires with a vanishing magnetostriction coefficient, can be further improved by appropriate heat treatment (including stress-annealing and Joule heating). Although as-prepared Fe-rich amorphous microwires exhibit low GMI ratio and rectangular hysteresis loops, stress-annealing, Joule heating, and combined stress-annealed followed by conventional furnace annealing can substantially improve the GMI effect (by more than an order of magnitude).

Vol4 num4-16 Magnetic properties and applications of glass-coated ferromagnetic microwires

The impact of post-processing on soft magnetic properties and the giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect of Fe- and Co-based glass-coated microwires is evaluated. A remarkable improvement of magnetic softness and GMI effect is observed in Fe-rich glass-coated microwires subjected to stress annealing. Frequency dependence of GMI ratio of stress-annealed Fe-rich microwires has been discussed considering frequency dependence of the skin penetration depth, δ, as well as magnetic anisotropy distribution within the metallic nucleus. Annealed and stress-annealed Co-rich microwires present rectangular hysteresis loop and single and fast domain wall propagation. However, Co-based stress-annealed microwires present high magnetoimpedance ratio. Observed stress-induced anisotropy and related changes of magnetic properties are discussed considering internal stresses relaxation and “back-stresses”.

Development of iron-rich microwires with a unique combination of magnetic properties

We studied the influence of post-processing on magnetic properties of Fe-rich microwires and defined the routes to obtain Fe-rich cost-effective microwires with unique combination of magnetic properties allowing observation of fast and single domain wall, DW, propagation and Giant Magnetoimpedance, GMI, effect in the same microwire. By modifying the annealing conditions, we have identified the appropriate regimes allowing to achieve remarkable improvements in GMI ratio and single DW dynamics. The observed experimental results are discussed considering the radial distribution of the magnetic anisotropy and the correlation of the GMI effect and DW dynamics with hysteresis loops.

A Core–Shell Model for Magnetoimpedance in Stress-Annealed Fe-Rich Amorphous Microwires

The magnetoimpedance effect in a stress-annealed Fe-rich amorphous microwire with induced magnetic anisotropy in a surface region is studied theoretically. The static magnetization distribution within the microwire is described in the framework of the core–shell magnetic structure. It is assumed that the microwire has an axial magnetic anisotropy in the inner core and a helical anisotropy in the external shell appearing due to the stress-annealing. Both the diagonal and off-diagonal magnetoimpedance responses are found in terms of the surface impedance tensor. The influence of the bias current on the magnetoimpedance is analyzed. The obtained theoretical dependences are shown to be in a qualitative agreement with the results of recent experimental studies of the magnetoimpedance effect in stress-annealed Fe-rich glass–coated amorphous microwires.

Highly oriented ferromagnetic polymers based on Co- and Fe-rich amorphous microwires

In this paper highly oriented magneto-polymer composites have been obtained by means of Co and Fe-rich glass-coated amorphous microwires with various metal nucleus and outer diameters. The microwire segments with length L ~ 0.5–0.6 cm were oriented in the magnesium alloy matrix and were poured with a liquid polymer whose composition was a mixture of methyl methacrylate methacrylic acid and methacrylate copolymers in a ratio of 37/63% by mass. The magneto-polymer composites obtained possess high electric resistance, chemical stability and mechanical strength. The high average saturation magnetizations, <Ms> = 20–30 emu/cm3, have been obtained for Co and Fe based composites with the volume fraction of the magnetic material in the polymer matrix within the range 0.02–0.05. Both Co and Fe based composites show highly anisotropic magnetic properties. The magneto-polymer samples can be cut into pieces of arbitrary size and shape. This facilitates their use in various technical applications.

Stress-induced magnetic anisotropy enabling engineering of magnetic softness of Fe-rich amorphous microwires

Stress-annealing allows considerably modify magnetic properties of Fe-rich glass-coated microwires. Varying the stress-annealing conditions (temperature, time and stress applied during the annealing) we can observe either remarkable improvement of magnetic softness and giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect. Observed changes have been attributed to the transverse magnetic anisotropy. An improvement of the circumferential permeability in the surface layer of metallic nucleus is evidenced from observed magnetic softening and remarkable GMI effect rising. We assumed that stress-annealing leads to an increase in the outer domain sheath with transverse magnetic anisotropy rise in expense of inner axially magnetized core typically existing in as-prepared Fe-rich microwires. Consequently, stress annealing enabled us to design the magnetic anisotropy distribution beneficial for optimization of the GMI effect and magnetic softness of Fe-rich magnetic microwires.

Scanning magnetic microscope based on magnetoimpedance sensor for measuring of local magnetic fields

A scanning magnetic microscope based on an off-diagonal magnetoimpedance sensor is presented. As a sensor, we use a 4 mm segment of glass covered microwire, having a metallic core diameter of 13.5 μm and CoFeCrSiB composition and a pick-up coil wound around the microwire containing 70 turns. The magneto-impedance sensor is fixed perpendicular to the surface of the sample, in such a way that the distance between the tip of the microwire and the sample is about 200 μm. The relative movement of the sample and the GMI sensor is carried out using a non-magnetic X-Y positioner. Measurements are taken inside the magnetic screen. For test measurements, samples in the form of the letters IWMW – of the conference abbreviation are used. The samples were made based on thin copper wire, Fe-rich amorphous ferromagnetic microwires and printed by laser-jet printer. Clear magnetic images were obtained on all samples, which demonstrates the high practical potential of the proposed method.