Suppression of large Barkhausen jumps in annealed amorphous wires with an imposed twist as a function of current, external axial stress, and axial field

The magnetization and small signal alternating-current permeabilities of transverse-field-annealed amorphous magnetostrictive wires (Fe77.5B15Si7.5) with a fixed twist of 400 deg/m were examined as a function of applied axial tensile stress and axial direct-current (dc) currents. We observe multiple-featured magnetization curves which we attribute to the inverse Wiedemann effect, as well as a near total suppression of the large Barkhausen jumps when a dc current is flowing through the wire. Several properties of the wire depend on stress and would be useful for sensor applications; figures of merit of 1700–2600 for torque sensors were obtained.