Magnetostrictive properties of amorphous TbFe/FeB multilayer thin films by DC magnetron sputtering

Magnetostrictive multilayer films which consists of amorphous TbFe and FeB were prepared by dc magnetron sputtering onto glass substrates. The structure, magnetic and magnetostrictive properties of TbFe/FeB multilayer thin films were investigated at different annealing temperatures. The results reveal that the soft magnetic and magnetostrictive properties for TbFe/FeB multilayer thin films compared to TbFe single layer thin films were obviously improved. In comparison to the intrinsic coercivity _JH_c of 59.2 kA/m for TbFe single layer thin films, the intrinsic coercivity _JH_c for TbFe/FeB multilayer thin films rapidly drops to 27.3 kA/m. After annealing at 350°C for 60 min, the maximum saturation magnetostrictive coefficient of ¿_s = 410 × 10^-6 was obtained. The best low-field magnetostrictive coefficient could reach to 177 × 10^-6 under 40 kA/m external magnetic field for the TbFe/FeB multilayer thin films after annealing at 250°C for 60 min.