Magnetostriction of Fe-rich Fe-Co and Fe-V alloys

Fe-rich Fe100-y-zCoyVz alloys (with y + z less than or equal to 20 at%) wer e prepared for the saturation magnetostriction (lambda(S)) and anisotropic magnetoresistance (Delta rho/rho(0)) measurements. In particular, the atten tion was focused on the lambda(S) and Delta rho/rho(0) data of two series o f binary alloys, e.g. Fe100-xCox and Fe100-xVx. It was found that lambda(S) = 0 at around x(0) = 5 at% V and x(0) = 3.5 at% Co, lambda(S) changes sign from negative to positive, as x increases, and lambda(S) of the Fe-Co allo y is larger than that of the Fe-V alloy for the same value of x. In additio n to the split-band model, we have discussed the lambda(S) data based on th e one-ion model. In the latter model, it was concluded that lambda(S) of th e Fe-M alloy (with M = Co or V) is closely related to the magnitude of the local orbital moment \mu(M)\ of the impurity atom M. We also showed the x d ependence of the saturation magnetostriction as lambda(S) = a(100 - x)x + b (100 - x)(2), where a > 0 and b < 0 are constants. Using the lambda(S) data from this study, we have discussed the suitability of the two models for t he case of Fe-Co-V alloys in the various concentration regions. (C) 1999 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.