Micromagnetic modeling of the effects of stress on magnetic properties

A micromagnetic model has been developed for investigating the effect of st ress on the magnetic properties of thin films. This effect has been impleme nted by including the magnetoelastic energy term into the Landau-Lifshitz-G ilbert equation. Magnetization curves of a nickel film were calculated unde r both tensile and compressive stresses of various magnitudes applied along the field direction. The modeling results show that coercivity increased w ith increasing compressive stress while remanence decreased with increasing tensile stress. The results are in agreement with the experimental data in the literature and can be interpreted in terms of the effects of the appli ed stress on the irreversible rotation of magnetic moments during magnetiza tion reversal under an applied field. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physic s.