Electronic structure and magnetostrictive sensitivity of Fe-B metallic glasses

The effect of mechanical tensile stresses 0 less than or equal to sigma less than or equal to 62 MPa on the low-field (0 less than or equal toH less than or equal to 45 Oe) magnetization curves of the metallic glasses Fe100-xBx (x=14,16,17,20) is studied at temperatures of 77 and 300 K. The correlation between the electronic structure of the glasses and their magnetostrictive sensitivity kappa (s) is revealed: the eutectic metallic glass Fe83B17, which possesses a special electronic structure with a 30% lower conduction (sp) electron density, has a value of kappa (s) differing substantially from that of the other metallic glasses studied. Under low stresses (0 less than or equal to sigma less than or equal to 22 MPa) the eutectic alloy possesses a magnetostrictive sensitivity kappa (s)(sigma (1)) which is higher than that of the rest of the alloys studied, while under high stresses (22 MPa less than or equal to sigma less than or equal to 62 MPa) its magnetostrictive sensitivity kappa (s)(sigma (2)) is close to zero. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.