Giant magnetostriction in nanoheterogeneous Fe-Al alloys

As a potential magnetostrictive material, Fe-Al alloys exhibit excellent mechanical properties, low cost, and moderate magnetostriction, but the magnetostriction mechanism is still a mystery. Here, we elucidate the structural origin of magnetostriction in Fe-Al alloys and further improve the magnetostriction five-fold via Tb doping. Nanoinclusions with a size of 3-5 nm were found dispersed in the A2 matrix in Fe₈₂Al₁₈ ribbons. The structure of the nanoinclusions is identified to be tetragonally modified-D0₃ (L6₀), which are considered to create the tetragonal distortion of the matrix, leading to the enhanced magnetostriction. Furthermore, a drastic enhancement of the magnetostriction up to 5 times was achieved by trace Tb doping (0.2 at. %). Synchrotron X-ray diffraction directly revealed the increased tetragonal distortion of the matrix caused by these Tb dopants. The results further enrich the heterogeneous magnetostriction and guide the development of magnetostrictive materials.