Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 157/158 (1996) 141-142

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journal of magnetism and magnetic materials

Influence of induced anisotropy on magneto-impedance in Co-rich metallic glasses

M. Tejedor *, B. Hernando, M.L. Sfinchez, A. Garc/a-Arribas
Departamento de Fsica, Universidad de Oviedo, Calvo Sotelo s / n, 33007 Oviedo, Spain

Abstract Large variations of magneto-impedance (MI) have been observed in amorphous ribbons (for drive frequencies higher than 100 kHz) subjected to a bias magnetic field of the order of a few Oe. The effect of induced anisotropies on the MI effect for Co66.sFe3.5Sii2B18 ribbons is presented. Sensitivities to the applied bias field of 30 and 4 0 % / O e were obtained at 2 MHz.
Keywords: Induced anisotropy; Magneto-impedance; Metallic glasses

Low magnetostrictive Co-based ribbons have great technological interest due to their very attractive magnetic properties. Annealing under a magnetic field a n d / o r stress improves them for use as magnetic field sensors, such as fluxgate sensors [1], or sensors based on the magneto-impedance (MI) effect. Recently, some authors have reported large sensitive changes in the MI as a function of applied field in Co-based amorphous alloys [2-8]. MI is strongly dependent on the drive current frequency, and at frequencies higher than 100 kHz, this response is very sensitive to an applied dc magnetic field of the order of a few Oe. In this work we study the effect of induced anisotropy on the MI effect in amorphous ribbons. The results can be explained by changes in the transverse magnetization due to the drive current and the field dependence of the skin depth on the transverse permeability. Our experiments were performed on C066.5Fe3.5 S i 12B18 amorphous ribbons, produced at the Technical University of Denmark using the single roller quenching technique. One ribbon was subjected to an annealing treatment in an Ar atmosphere, consisting of 1 h stress relief at 340C followed by 1 h stress annealing at the same temperature with 300 MPa applied tensile stress (SAD. Another ribbon was annealed a t 400C with 300 MPa applied tensile stress, without preannealing (SA2). Results are compared with those for a ribbon employed in the as-quenched state (AQ), reported in a previous paper [5]. The ribbons have low magneto striction constants of - 0 . 1 6 10-6, 0.099 10 -6 and 0.036 10 -6 for AQ, SA1 and SA2, respec-

tively, which are suitable for obtaining larger values of MI response [2]. The ribbon thickness was 20 /zm. The samples were cut into I5 cm long pieces and aligned perpendicularly to the earth's magnetic field. They were connected in series with' a resistor, where the rms value of the sinUsoidal drive current was kept constant (10 mA). This current creates a transversal ac magnetic field with respect to the axis. The magnetization changes in the transverse direction induce a voltage between the ends of the sample, which is measured by a digital oscilloscope. The absolute value of the impedance is obtained from this voltage for frequencies up to 10 MHz. An H scan was performed for several values of the drive current frequency by a 32 cm long solenoid. In Fig. 1 we show, for the S A l r i b b o n , the dependence on the bias field H of the magneto-impedance ratio: AZ [ z ( n ) -- Z ( H = 100 Oe)] Z (%) = Z ( H = 100 Oe) - 100%.

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* Corresponding author. Fax: + 34-8-510-3324.

This dependence has been stu{tied for several values of frequency between 0.5 and 10 MHz; within this frequency range the maximum variation of MI with bias field occurs [2,5]. The MI ratio shows a sharp increase up to a maximum value reached at a field of the order of the anisotropy field, followed by a rapid decrease in a few Oe. As the frequency increases the maximum shifts slightly to a higher value. Similar results have been obtained for the SA2 ribbon, as well as for field annealed Co-based ribbons [6] and for Co-based sputtered films [8]. The sensitivities obtained at 2 MHz for the SA1 and SA2 ribbons are, respectively, 30 and 4 0 % / O e ; these values exceed the sensitivity of 1 3 % / O e reported for the AQ ribbon [5].

0304-8853/96/$15.00 Copyright 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. SSDI 0 3 0 4 - 8 8 5 3 ( 9 5 ) 0 1 2 2 8 - 1

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M. Tejedor et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 157/158 (1996) 141-142
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Fig. 1. Magneto-impedance ratios versus bias field for the SA1 ribbon. MI ratios at f = 5 MHz and hysteresis loops are compared in Fig. 2, where it can be seen that maxima appear for applied fields of 3.2 and 5 . 2 0 e for samples SA1 and SA2, respectively, very close to the anisotropy fields of about 3.1 and 5.0 Oe obtained from magnetization curves. Fig. 3 shows the MI ratio maxima as a function of the drive current frequency for the three specimens. A maximum appears at about 2 MHz and then decreases. In stress annealed ribbons, magnetic moments lay essentially transverse to the ribbon axis, separated by 180 domain walls in most of the samples [9]. For these high frequencies the domain walls are damped and the skin effect is noticeable, changing the ac current distribution and increasing the impedance. As the bias field starts to increase, it dominates the ac field, and when saturation is

Fig. 3. Magneto-impedance ratio maxima as a function of the drive current frequency. reached the transverse magnetization proceeds only via rotation. The maximum value of the MI ratio is obtained for an applied field value close to the required field to saturate the sample. The transversal permeability decreases with increasing bias field, making MI decrease. The shift of MI ratio maxima with frequency might be due to the skin effect, which shields the interior of the specimen from the ac fields, and can be associated with a higher anisotropy of the surface layer. Magnetostriction and transversal permeability regulate the MI ratio maxima [2,4,8]. A higher maximum is obtained in the case of the SA2 sample, which corresponds to a value of the saturation magnetostriction constant closer to zero: This maximum remains higher than the maxima of the other specimens over the whole frequency range. The largest MI ratio is obtained at about 2 MHz for all samples. The MI maxima decrease with increasing frequency can be explained by the influence of the skin depth effect, together with the decrease of the transversal permeability [2]. Acknowledgement: We acknowledge Prof. O.V. Nielsen for supplying the samples and the Spanish CICYT for financial help under grants ESP93-0505 and MAT93-0440.
References

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[1] M. Tejedor, B. Hemando and M.L. S~nchez, J. Magm Magn. Mater. 133 (1994) 338. [2] L.V. Panina and K. Mohri, Appl, Phys. Lett. 65 (1994) 1189. [3] R.S. Beach and A.E. Berkowitz, Appl. Phys.Lett. 64 (1994) 3652. [4] K.V. Rao, F.B. Humphrey and J.L. Costa-Kr~imer, J. Appl. Phys. 76 (1994) 6204. [5] M. Tejedor, B. Hernando, M.L. S~nchez, M. V~zquez and M. Knobel, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 152 (1996) 191. [6] F.LA. Machado, B.L. da Silva, S.M. Rezende and C.S. Martins, J. Appl. Phys. 75 (1994) 6563. [7] R.S. Beach and A.E. Berkowitz, J. Appl. Phys. 76 (1994) 6209. [8] L.V. Panina, K. Mohri, T. Uchiyama, M. Noda and K. Bushida, IEEE Trans. Magn. 31 (1995) 1249. [9] K. Zaveta, O.V. Nielsen and K. Jurek, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 117 (1992) 61.