Giant magnetoimpedance effect in Fe75.5Cu1Nb3Si13.5B7 ribbon/FeGa film composite

Optimized giant magnetoimpedance effect of Fe75.5Cu1Nb3Si13.5B7 amorphous ribbon/Fe80Ga20 film composites has been investigated. FeCuNbSiB amorphous ribbons as the substrates are commercially available, magnetostrictive FeGa films are deposited on one or both sides of the ribbons by ion-beam sputtering. Compared with the GMI curves without FeGa layer, the GMI effect of FeCuNbSiB amorphous ribbon has been obviously improved with FeGa film covered (from 4% to 16%). Moreover, the details exhibit an interesting phenomenon: at a certain frequency, when the FeGa film covered on one side of the ribbon, the GMI ratio decreases with the thickness of the FeGa film; however, when the FeGa films covered on both sides of the ribbon, the GMI ratio increases with the thickness of the FeGa film. We mainly attribute the reason to strain-induced anisotropy, which is induced by magnetostrictive effect under a longitudinal applied magnetic field.