Magnetic anisotropy and giant magnetostriction of amorphous TbDyFe films

The influence of internal stress on the magnetic anisotropy and the magnetostriction was investigated in sputter-deposited amorphous (Tb0.27Dy0.73)0.42Fe0.58 films. Films with tensile stress show in-plane anisotropy and giant magnetostriction of λ∥=400×10−6 at 1 T measured in a field parallel to the film plane at room temperature. The magnetostriction rises rapidly to λ∥=200×10−6 at 0.05 T and the coercivity is less than 0.01 T. On the other hand films with compressive stress show perpendicular anisotropy and still higher magnetostriction of λ∥=540×10−6 at 1 T; however, this is by far a slower increase of magnetostriction at small fields. This different behavior is explained by considering the nature of magnetization processes, i.e., domain-wall motion and spin rotation.