Magnetostriction enhancement by high magnetic field annealing in cast Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ alloy

Highlights: • FeGa alloy was annealed in a high magnetic field. • The [1 0 0] crystal orientation was enhanced induced by high magnetic field. • The enhancement in magnetostriction for FeGa alloy was obtained ascribed to high magnetic field. - Abstract: High magnetic field was introduced to improve the saturation magnetostriction of cast Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ alloy during annealing process. The effects of high magnetic field on the microstructure, magnetic domain structure and magnetostrictive properties were investigated in this paper. Results indicated that high magnetic field could transfer Ga atom from precipitation to parent phase. High magnetic field also enhanced [1 0 0] direction orientation of FeGa alloy. The saturation magnetostriction for Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ alloy annealed at 10 T increased by about five times compared to one without high magnetic field. The improvement in saturation magnetostriction is attributed to the enhanced [1 0 0] orientation and Ga diffusion under high magnetic field during annealing process.