Domain rotation simulation of anisotropic magnetostrictions in giant magnetostrictive materials

Axial magnetostriction in giant magnetostrictive materials with specific crystal orientation is highly anisotropic when changing magnetization direction. Based on a single-{111}-twin crystal growth model, this paper presents a domain rotation simulation of anisotropic magnetostrictions in < 110 > oriented crystals Tb(0.36)Dy(0.64)(Fe(0.85)Co(0.15))(2) by considering the demagnetization effect. Simulation results show that the axial magnetostrictions under different external magnetic field directions, which correspond to specific magnetic moment "jump" and "rotation" processes, are in good agreement with experimental data. The demagnetization effect, arising from non-coaxial magnetization, hinders moment alignments especially at low external fields and reduces the initial magnetostriction. Change of the saturation magnetostriction is also presented by multidomain calculations through revealing the detailed magnetization processes. Such domain rotation simulations might provide a better understanding of the magnetostriction dependence on magnetization direction, i.e., the anisotropic magnetostrictive responses. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3634115]