Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmmm

Research articles

AC magnetic and magnetoimpedance properties of CoFe(NbMnNi)BSi

amorphous ribbons
Subhendu Kumar Manna, V. Srinivas ⇑
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: We report magnetic and magnetoimpedance (MI) properties of cobalt-rich amorphous alloys to investi-
Received 26 August 2017 gate the role of small quantities of 3d or 4d transition-metal elements in Co-rich alloys. The microstruc-
Received in revised form 17 October 2017 ture, thermal stability, AC soft magnetic properties and magnetoimpedance of the ribbons are
Accepted 18 October 2017
investigated by substituting Nb in place of Ni and Mn. Present study shows an improvement in glass
Available online 23 October 2017
forming ability and reduction in electrical conductivity of the ribbon with Nb substitution. Higher Nb
containing alloy shows minimum core loss compared to other compositions over a range of frequencies.
Keywords:
Ribbon with higher core loss exhibited higher MI ratio (
100% at 3 MHz), but decreased rapidly at higher
Magnetic permeability
Core loss
frequencies due to its larger electrical conductivity. The ribbon with lower electrical conductivity showed
AC hysteresis loop a steady MI ratio and field sensitivity with frequency. These results indicate that MI and core losses at
Magnetic anisotropy medium range of frequencies can be tuned by adding Nb that provides most favourable electrical conduc-
Coercivity tivity and magnetic permeability values, which result in optimum skin depth and MI. The effect of elec-
Magnetoimpedance trical conductivity on MI is also validated through numerical simulations using standard electrodynamics
models.
Ó 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Pt ¼ P hys þ P e ð1Þ

Soft magnetic materials are the backbone of medium and high
frequency devices, like – transformer, motor, generator and mag-
netic sensors, due to their high magnetic permeability (l), low
coercivity (HC) and high saturation flux density (Bs). Fe- and Co-
based soft magnetic alloys have been extensively studied [1] for
high frequency magnetic applications. These studies have shown
that Fe-based materials possess higher l, saturation magnetostric-
tion (kS) and lower HC, Curie temperature (TC), whereas Co-based
materials exhibit lager BS, strong uniaxial anisotropy and lower
electrical conductivity and kS values. Although Fe-based materials
show better magnetic softness at high frequency, Co-based amor-
phous ribbons/films show superior magnetoimpedance (MI) char-
acteristics due to their nearly zero kS value [2]. On the other hand,
for energy device applications (motor, generator, inductors etc.)
magnetic core loss is also an important factor [3,4]. When a mag-
netic material is subjected to an alternating magnetic field the
power is dissipated and is termed as core loss of the material. Pri-
marily, the total power loss (Pt) can be separated into hysteresis
loss (Phys) and eddy current loss (Pe), i.e.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: veeturi@iitm.ac.in (V. Srinivas).
The hysteresis power loss was quantified by Steinmetz [5] in
hysteresis loss model, which is given by-
Phys ¼ kh Bnm f ð2Þ
where, f is frequency, kh is hysteresis loss co-efficient, Bm is maxi-
mum flux density and ‘n’ is the exponent of Bm, varies from 1.7 to
2.0 depending on the material in question. The major contributor
to the total core loss is eddy current loss (Pe) [6,7] which is
expressed as-
p2 d2 B2m f 2 r
Pe ¼ ð3Þ
b
where, d is effective dimension (for dense material, d is thickness of
the sample, for laminated material thickness of the sheet), f is fre-
quency, r is electrical conductivity and b is geometrical coefficient.
From this expression it is clear that r controls the core loss [8]. Ear-
lier reports on amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys suggested
addition of small quantities of early 3d or 4d transition metal
(TM) elements improve the soft magnetic character due to changes
in local distribution of moments and magnetic exchange [1]. Yoshi-
zawa et al. [9] have synthesized nanocrystalline alloy with compo-
sition, Fe73.5Si13.5Nb3B9Cu1 (FINEMET), with low coercivity, high

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2017.10.071
0304-8853/Ó 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
468 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474
saturation magnetization and lower electrical conductivity. It was
suggested that Cu increases the nucleation rate of Fe–Si crystallites
and favors homogeneous nanocrystallization, whereas Nb inhibits
the grain growth [10]. Herzer [11] suggested that if grain sizes are
below the ferromagnetic exchange length, then as per random ani-
sotropy model, one can achieve soft magnetic character. In addition,
this composite structure leads to the compensation of the kS value
between the amorphous and nanocrystalline phases with opposite
signs of kS values, thus decreasing the magnetoelastic energy [12].
The DC and low frequency AC magnetic measurements on Molybde-
num doped (Mo) FINEMET didn’t show significant changes though
the heat treatment resulted in improvement of magnetic parame-
ters. This is attributed to variations in Fe-Fe inter atomic distances
due to the change in Mo and Nb atomic diameters [13]. On the other
hand, it is suggested that amorphous alloys are good candidates for
low field magnetic sensor applications, i.e. giant magne-
toimpedance (GMI) effect [14]. These properties are closely related
to specific magnetic domain structure of amorphous ribbon, i.e.
with single axial domain typical for Fe-rich or high transverse mag-
netic domain for Co-rich amorphous ribbons. The GMI effect is a
classical electromagnetic phenomenon observed when impedance
(Z) of a magnetic element changes on application of magnetic field.
This change in Z occurs mainly due to the change in transverse per-
meability (mt) or skin depth (dm), on application of external mag-
netic field [15]. The dm is related to the transverse magnetic
permeability, mt, electrical conductivity, r and given by [14]:

1=2
2 impedance under applied field H and maximum field Hmax (100
dm ¼
lt rf
where, f is frequency of exciting current.
Magnetoimpedance also can be enhanced by optimizing the
microstructure, anisotropy and kS of the materials [16,17]. From
Eqs. (3) and (4) it is clear that lower conductivity material is suit-
able for low core loss behavior, while conductive metallic material
is preferred for the observation of GMI effect, though in both cases
the material should have ultra–soft magnetic properties. From the
literature it may be noted that the slightly negative ks is preferable
over the material with zero ks for exhibiting large MI effect [18].
This is because the domain structure of rapidly solidified materials
is often determined by coupling between ks and internal stresses
frozen in during the fabrication process [14]. Co-rich amorphous
Co-Fe-B-Si system has received a great attention due to its soft
magnetic properties as well as GMI response [1,19]. It has been
observed that replacement of B by Nb and Cu in Co-Fe-Si-B alloys
the MI effect [20] and glass forming ability [21] gets enhanced.
Nickel addition helps in reducing surface roughness, which in turn
enhances the GMI response at higher frequencies [22].
Few studies on AC magnetic properties and their relation to GMI
have been reported in the literature. Therefore, a pertinent ques-
tion is whether hysteresis loss is someway related to magne-
toimpedance? Whether addition of 3d-, 4d-TM elements help in
tuning the electromagnetic properties of the Co-based ribbons?
In order to throw light on these questions we have carried out
AC magnetic and MI measurements over a frequency range. The
magnetic and MI properties of three multicomponent amorphous
alloys with composition Co73Fe4.5(Ni0.5Mn0.5Nb0.5)Si4.2B16.8, Co73-
Fe4.5(Mn0.5Nb1.0)Si4.2B16.8 and Co73Fe4.5(Nb1.5)Si4.2B16.8 have been
carried out in the present investigation.
2. Experimental details
Alloy ingots with nominal compositions Co73Fe4.5(Ni0.5Mn0.5-
Nb0.5)Si4.2B16.8, Co73Fe4.5(Mn0.5Nb1.0)Si4.2B16.8 and Co73Fe4.5(Nb1.5)
Si4.2B16.8 were prepared by arc melting under Argon atmosphere
using high purity (
99.99%) elemental constituents obtained from
Alfa Aesar. Subsequently, long amorphous ribbons having 1–2 mm
width and 40–45 lm thickness were obtained by single roller
quenching technique. As-quenched ribbons with compositions
Co73Fe4.5(Ni0.5Mn0.5Nb0.5)Si4.2B16.8, Co73Fe4.5(Mn0.5Nb1.0)Si4.2B16.8
and Co73Fe4.5(Nb1.5)Si4.2B16.8 are referred as Rib-I, Rib-II and Rib-
III respectively in the following text. The amorphous state of as-
quenched ribbons was confirmed by X-ray diffraction study. Ther-
mal stability of all the ribbons was investigated by differential
scanning calorimeter (DSC) with a scanning rate of 20 °C/min.
Surface and bulk microstructure has been investigated by scan-
ning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A Philips
CM20 TEM was used for the study of bulk structure of amor-
phous/nanocrystalline ribbons. The ribbons were initially polished
and then a dimple was made at the center of the ribbons by using
the GATAN Ion milling source. These samples were then loaded
on to a Copper grid to investigate the microstructure. The AC
magnetic measurements were performed on ring shaped samples
under magnetic field (1000 A/m or 12.6 Oe) and frequencies
(20 kHz) with a commercial B-H loop tracer setup (Model:
AMH-20 K-S). Impedance measurements on 5 cm long ribbons
were carried out with an impedance analyser (Model: HP
4192A) in the frequency range 500 kHz–13 MHz by passing 10
mA alternating current. A magnetic field up to ±100 Oe was
applied along the length of the ribbons, using a Helmhotlz coil.
The MI ratio and magnetic field sensitivity (g) were evaluated
using an expression – MI(%) = (DZ/Z)% = [(Z(H)  Z(Hmax))/Z
(Hmax)]  100 and g = (d/dH)(DZ/Z), where Z(H) and Z(Hmax) are
ð4Þ
Oe) respectively.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Structural properties
The amorphous nature of the as-quenched (AQ) ribbons has
been confirmed through powder XRD method and corresponding
profiles are shown in Fig. 1(a). The diffraction profile shows a broad
maxima at 2h = 40°–50° range for Rib-I. On the other hand Rib-II
and Rib-III exhibit featureless XRD pattern with decreasing inten-
sity compared to that observed in case of Rib-I. These observations
suggest the glass forming ability enhanced when Ni & Mn were
replaced by Nb. Similar behavior was also reported in Fe-B-Si,
Co-Fe-Si-B alloy systems [23,24]. As shown in Fig. 1(b), the DSC
thermographs of all ribbons exhibited two distinct exothermic
peaks and the crystallization temperatures (Tx) are listed in Table 1.
The first and second exothermic peaks correspond to primary and
secondary crystallization of a-FeCo phase and other Co compound
phases (e.g. Co3(Si,B)) respectively [25].
On close observation of DSC curves it may be noted that the
crystallization temperatures (Tx1 and Tx2) shift to higher tempera-
ture with increasing Nb content. This indicates the stability of
amorphous state enhanced with replacement of Ni & Mn by Nb,
which is consistent with XRD results. Further the separation
between Tx1 and Tx2 (DTx = Tx2  Tx1) increased with Nb, which
enables us to investigate the primary crystallization process with-
out effecting the secondary crystallization. The two crystallization
temperatures for Co78xFexSi8B14 (x = 5–40) ribbons have been
reported to lie in the range of 477–557 °C [26].
The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show smooth
surface in high resolution micrographs. Further TEM micrographs
and corresponding selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pat-
terns were recorded and shown in Fig. 1(d) and (e) respectively
for Rib-1. The electron diffraction patterns of all samples show dif-
fused ring patterns, indicating amorphous state of the samples,
which supports the XRD result.
 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474 469

Fig. 1. (a) XRD patterns and (b) DSC thermographs of as-quenched (AQ) ribbons (c) ribbon wound in ring shape for AC magnetic measurements (d) TEM image and (e)
corresponding SAED pattern of Rib-I.

Table 1
Experimentally obtained thermal, electrical and magnetic parameters.

Sample Tx1 (°C) Tx2 (°C) DT = (Tx1  Tx2) (°C) r (/ohm-m) Hc at DC (Oe) l (DC) DC hyst. losss (erg/g-s) P (at 50 Hz) (erg/g-s) P (at 500 Hz) (erg/g-s)
Rib-I 470 578 108 6.3  105 0.036 13,530 3.7 1.33  104 83  104
Rib-II 473 583 110 4.8  105 0.114 7126 4.9 0.21  104 19  104
Rib-III 480 608 128 4.5  105 0.064 18,177 6.6 0.04  104 5  104

3.2. Static magnetization bons. The coercivity of the ribbons was also measured precisely
using coercimeter [Model: CR-02] and the values are recorded as
The saturation magnetization values of Rib-I, Rib-II and Rib-III 0.06, 0.34 and 0.15 (±0.01) Oe for Rib-I, Rib-II and Rib-III respec-
are observed to be 128, 127 and 114 emu/g respectively (Fig. 2). tively. The differential susceptibility, vdiff (dM/dH) increases to a
Significant decrease in MS of Rib-III could be due to variations in maximum value at low applied fields and then sharply decreases
elemental moment and exchange coupling strengths between as the field increased (see inset (b) of Fig. 2). The maximum value
matrix and transition elements Ni, Mn and Nb. Nevertheless, the of vdiff was observed for Rib-III, whereas it is almost equal for Rib-I
MS values of presently studied alloys are higher than the values and Rib-II.
reported in the literature on Co-Fe-B-Si alloy system [27,28]. From
Fig. 2 it can be seen that the coercivity of all samples is fraction of
an Oersted, which indicates ultra-soft magnetic nature of the rib- 3.3. AC magnetic properties and core loss

Although the DC magnetization studies suggest that the present

(a) compositions posses good soft magnetic characteristics it is impor-
M (emu/g)

0.5 tant to study their AC magnetic response to understand the power

100
0.0 loss behavior. Further, increase in loss with core fabrication in
amorphous metal-based core is a key factor in designing and pro-
50 -0.5
ducing amorphous alloy based transformer cores. A stress relieved
dM/dH (emu/g-Oe)

12 grain-oriented silicon steel-based core shows nearly the same core

M (emu/g)

-0.2 0.0 0.2

10 (b)
H (Oe) loss as that of a straight strip. Since the skin depth and core loss
0 8
6 depend not only on soft magnetic properties but also the electrical
Rib-I 4 conductivity r, the DC electrical conductivity of the ribbons was
-50 Rib-II 2
evaluated and listed in Table 1, from which one can see r
0
Rib-III 0 10 20 30 40 decreases with increasing Nb content in the ribbons. The effect of
H (Oe) Nb element on eddy-current loss is examined for toroidal cores
-100 of Co-based amorphous ribbons. The long ribbons are wound into
ring shape with inner and outer diameters of 21.6 and 24.1 mm
-10 -5 0 5 10 respectively (shown in Fig. 1c). The shape of the hysteresis loop
2 is mainly influenced by the magnetic anisotropy of the materials
10 H (Oe)
(ribbons), whereas the total loss of the materials is estimated by
Fig. 2. Isothermal MH loops of AQ ribbons. Insets: (a) MH loops at low field evaluating the area under the hysteresis loop at different
region and (b) differential susceptibility (dM/dH) as a function of H. frequencies.
470 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474

The hysteresis loops were recorded in the frequency range DC
to 20 kHz with a maximum magnetic field (Hmax) of 12.6 Oe
(1000 A/m) and depicted in Fig. 3(a–c) at some selective frequen-
cies. The magnetic parameters, such as, Bm, Coercivity (BHC), core
loss (P) were obtained from the room temperature hysteresis data
measured at different frequencies. As the frequency of the excita-
tion field is raised, the area under the loop increased due to
increase of eddy current loss with frequency [29]. A contrasting
frequency response of hysteresis loops is observed in three cases.
For Rib-I the loop area changed rapidly with sharp increase in coer-
civity, core loss and decrease in Bm with increasing frequency of the
AC magnetic field. However, increased Nb content in sample Rib-II
restricts the rapid changes in hysteresis parameters with frequency
and interestingly these parameters are least affected in the case of
Rib-III as listed in Table 1. It can be seen that the hysteresis loss
increases with increasing Nb content in the sample. The increase
DC (a) Rib-I
0.2 KHz
0.5 KHz
2 0.7 KHz
B(kG)
in the core loss with frequency could be attributed to eddy current
loss at higher frequencies.
A remarkable improvement in core loss of Rib-III can be seen at
higher frequencies compared to that of Rib-I and Rib-II. Further the
maximum magnetic induction value (Bm) and lower BHC value
remain essentially constant with frequency for Rib-III up to 20 kHz.
Fig. 4(a) describes the total core loss (Pt) variation with fre-
quency at constant flux density, Bm = 1 kG. This figure shows Pt
varies very rapidly in Rib-I compared to Rib-II and Rib-III and sug-
gests that Rib-I suffers maximum loss, due to its large eddy current
loss associated with higher electrical conductivity. Fig. 4(b) shows
the corresponding trend in the variation of coercivity (BHC) with
frequency. The BHC values for all ribbons initially increased linearly
with frequency and then decreased slightly above a characteristic
frequency. This occurs when the magnetization due to the driving
field is low enough, and the value of H(t) needed to make M(t)
equal to zero is reduced [30]. It is interesting to note from the fig-
ure that maximum Nb containing ribbon (Rib-III) shows lowest
coercivity as compared to other two compositions in the whole fre-
quency range (DC to 20 kHz).
Variation of lr with field for different frequencies is shown in
the inset of Fig. 4(c) for Rib-I. It can be observed from the figure
that lr goes through a maximum at certain H for a particular fre-
quency. The initial increase in lr is due to domain wall motion in
magnetization process and the decrease at higher fields is because

of only magnetization rotation. The maximum lr at each frequency

0 was obtained for all ribbons and the frequency dependence of Max.
lr is plotted in main panel of Fig. 4(c). The DC Max. lr values are
13,500, 7000 and 18,500 for Rib-I, Rib-II and Rib-III respectively.
These results indicate improvement in permeability value for max-
-2 2.0 KHz
imum amount of Nb contain ribbon. Similar behavior was observed
5.0 KHz
10.0 KHz
when Si is replaced by Nb in Co69Fe7Si14–xNbxB10 alloy [27]. At
20.0 KHz higher frequency the Max.lr decreases due to domain wall damp-
ing by eddy current [31]. The magnitude of maximum flux density,
4 (b) Rib-II Bm for Rib-I remained constant up to 600 Hz and decreases to
DC nearly zero with increasing frequency (Fig. 4(d)). This decrease in
0.1 KHz Bm is proportional to f0.9 beyond 600 Hz. A monotonous decrease
2 0.5 KHz
of Bm (Bm / f0.24) has been observed for Rib-II beyond 1 kHz. How-
1.0 KHz
ever, in case of Rib-III the Bm remained almost constant (Bm / f0.02)
B(kG)

in the whole frequency range (DC to 20 kHz). The decrease in Bm

0 with f can be attributed to domain wall pinning at higher frequen-
cies due to larger eddy current. However, in Rib-III the decrease in
electrical conductivity lowers the eddy current pinning in this rib-
-2 bon. All the above results suggest a viewpoint that AC magnetic
5.0 KHz
response of Rib-III is best among the presently studied samples.
10.0 KHz
15.0 KHz Several theoretical models have been proposed to identify the
20.0 KHz losses in the dynamic hysteresis curves. Jiles [32] and Kaminski
-4
et al. [33] have derived the hysteresis equation from an energy-
(c) Rib-III balance equation. This model assumes that the external magnetic
4 energy supplied will help in magnetizing the materials or dissi-
DC pated in the form of heat due to irreversible magnetization. If dis-
0.1 KHz sipation is minimum then MH curve should exhibit anhysteretic
2 1.0 KHz magnetization curve. The energy balance equation for static mag-
10.0 KHz
netization is given [32]
B(kG)

20.0 KHz
0 Z Z Z

dM irr
l0 M an dHe ¼ l0 MdH þ l0 kdð1  cÞ dHe ð5Þ
dHe
-2
where, the first term on the right-hand side represents the magne-
tostatic energy, and the second term is dissipation loss due to pin-
-4 ning of magnetization vector. In this equation He = H + aM, the
coefficients k and d are the pinning parameter and directional
-12 -8 -4 0 4 8 12 parameter respectively. dH/dt is positive for d = +1 and negative
H (Oe) for d = 1. The amount of reversible change in magnetization is
given by constant c. When hysteresis is recorded under time vary-
Fig. 3. B–H loops of (a) Rib-I, (b) Rib-II and (c) Rib-III at different frequencies. ing fields the energy losses appear due to changes in the irreversible
 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474
Fig. 4. Variation of (a) total core loss, Pt (Bm = 1 kG), (b) coercivity, BHC (Hm = 12.6 Oe), (c) maximum relative permeability (max. lr) and (d) maximum flux density (BS) with
frequency for all ribbons. Inset of (c): lr variation with H for Rib-I.
magnetization Mirr. In addition the eddy current losses arise in elec-
trically conducting media, which has to be added to the right-hand
side of Eq. (5) and gives the expression for hysteresis loops with AC
magnetic field. When both excess and classical losses are added in
the energy equation features like increase in coercivity, energy loss
per cycle, the invariance of remanence with frequency were repro-
duced [32].
3.4. Magnetoimpedance properties
The impedance, Z of the ribbons was measured as a function of
external DC magnetic field, H at various frequencies up to 13 MHz.
Fig. 5(a–c) shows the variation of MI(%) as a function of external DC
magnetic field, H for Rib-I, Rib-II and Rib-III at some representative
frequencies – 0.5, 3, 7 and 13 MHz. For all ribbons at a particular
frequency, the MI(%) is seen to increase up to a certain switching
field, known as the anisotropy field, HK and thereafter it gradually
decreases with the field.
This type of MI profile is termed as double peak MI profile, and
the origin of double peak behavior can be explained by the facts:
There are two kinds of magnetic anisotropy acting on the ribbons,
one corresponds to transverse anisotropy and other is DC axial
magnetic field. In the low field region, close to origin, the external
magnetic field (Hext) tries to overcome the transverse anisotropy
and permeability increases. On further increase in Hext, the magne-
tization vector overcomes the existing transverse anisotropy, when
it reaches HK. At this point the magnetization responds quickly to
external magnetic field and gives rise to a large transverse perme-
471
ability. When Hext exceeds HK, the transverse permeability is
decreased due to the longitudinal field Hext which tries to rotate
magnetization in the direction of external field. As a consequence
with increasing Hext, skin depth increases and result in decrease
of MI(%). The double peak behavior of all AQ ribbons in the fre-
quency range of present study (0.5 MHz to 13 MHz) indicates the
presence of transverse magnetic anisotropy [15]. On close observa-
tion of MI curves, one can see the HK value for a particular sample
increased with increasing frequency. For example, HK of Rib-I
increased from 3 Oe to 7 Oe when frequency changed from 0.5
MHz to 13 MHz. The shift in HK with increasing frequency of all
ribbons is depicted in Fig. 6(a).
The shift of HK towards a higher value of Hext is probably due to
large eddy current effect with increasing frequency (f  5 MHz). At
higher frequency the domain wall displacements were strongly
damped by eddy current pinning and give larger HK value. Another
interesting aspect of MI% vs H curves is that the dip between the
two peaks at origin is largest for Rib-II, and lowest for Rib-III. This
depth profile suggests large number of transverse domains present
in Rib-I and Rib-II, compare to Rib-III. The maximum MI ratios for
Rib-I, II and III are 100%, 86% and 92% respectively have been
observed at 3 MHz. As the skin depth depends on frequency of
AC field, these above observations can be interpreted by the com-
bination of inductive and resistive parameters such as, permeabil-
ity (lr) and electrical conductivity (r) of the ribbons. Rib-I has
larger r (6.3  105/ohm-m) and moderate lr value (
13,500)
and exhibits highest MI(%). This is consistent with most magneti-
cally lossy character (see Table 1). Rib-III higher lr (
18,500) and
472 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474

-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 important factors that should be satisfied by material [20]. A com-
petition between lr and r to results in optimum skin depth, dm
100 0.5 MHz
(a) Rib-I according to Eq. (4). It may be speculated that magnetically lossy
3.0 MHz materials with reasonable lr can generate higher MI values as
80 7.0 MHz shown in the case of Rib-I. Chaturvedi et al. [22] reported surface
13.0 MHz smoothness of Co69Fe4.5X1.5Si10B15 ribbon improved when X was
60 replaced by Ni, which indeed enhanced the MI(%). This might be
also a reason behind the largest MI(%) in Rib-I. Fig. 6(b) shows
40 the magnetic field dependence of sensitivity, g at different fre-
quencies for Rib-I. The maximum g value (gmax) was observed at
20 very low field (H < HK) due to sharp change in MI(%). The variation
tendency of g in low fields is consistent with that in MI variation
0 as shown in Fig. 5. Same trend in g variation with H was also
observed for other two ribbons. Fig. 7 displays the frequency
80 dependent maximum MI ratio (MI(%)max) and its maximum field
(b) Rib-II sensitivity (gmax) respectively for all ribbons. It can be observed
that at lower frequency (f
1 MHz) (i.e. dm > a, ribbon thickness)
60 the value of MI(%)max was relatively low due to the contribution
of magneto inductive part to the magnetoimpedance. At moderate
MI(%)

40 frequency (1 MHz  f  4 MHz) (a  dm) the skin effect becomes

dominant and a higher value of MI(%) was observed. For f  4
MHz, the MI(%)max decreased with increasing frequency. In this fre-
20 quency region (f  4 MHz), the domain wall displacements were
strongly damped by eddy current, thus contributing less to the
0 transverse permeability, i.e. small MI(%)max. It can be noticed that
100 for Rib-I the rate of decrease of MI(%) with f is faster at higher fre-
quencies and MI(%)max reached lower value than Rib-III at 13 MHz.
(c) Rib-III This could be due to large eddy current damping of domain wall
80 motion in Rib-I due to its higher electrical conductivity. This is con-
sistent with the frequency dependent field sensitivity (g) varia-
60 tions as shown in Fig. 7(b). The maximum field sensitivity, gmax
has been picked up at very low field region (<HK) as it has very
40 large value at this region. As can be seen from the figure, the max-
imum field sensitivities, gmax are 12.5 (at 4 MHz), 13.75 (at 4 MHz)
and 4.5 (at 2 MHz) for Rib-I, Rib-II and Rib-III respectively. The
20
value of gmax for Rib-II continued to maintain highest among them
for the whole frequency range as the depth of the double peak in
0 this ribbon increased with increasing frequency.
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 The lower value of gmax for Rib-III is due to weaker double peak
nature (anisotropy), but most interestingly this gmax value remains
H (Oe) almost constant over the whole frequency range. This behavior of
Fig. 5. MI% as a function of magnetic field (H) for (a) Rib-I, (b) Rib-II, (c) Rib-III at
gmax is quite similar to AC magnetic behavior (variations of HC,
some representative frequencies. lr and Bmax with frequency) as observed earlier. These results sug-
gest damping of domain wall motion by eddy current is minimum
lower r (4.5  105/ohm-m) due to which lower magnetic loss has in Rib-III due to it’s lower electrical conductivity (r). Although
been observed and exhibits moderate MI(%). Here it must be Rib-III obtained lower MI(%) and field sensitivity (g), they are
pointed out that tuning of electrical conductivity is one of the stable up to comparatively higher frequencies. This will have very

Fig. 6. Variation of (a) anisotropy field (HK) with frequency for all ribbons and (b) field sensitivity (g) with H at different frequencies for Rib-I.
 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474
Fig. 7. MI(%)max and gmax variations with frequency for all ribbons.
good practical importance to develop a magnetic field sensor at
higher frequencies with same sensitivity.
The starting point of the models proposed to understand the
GMI phenomenon is Maxwell equations and the Landau-Lifshitz-
Gilbert (LLG) equation [34,35]. By using these models numerical
simulations have been carried out for Co-based amorphous ribbons
[36]. Since for the present series of ribbons, noticeable differences
in electrical conductivity (r) were found experimentally, we have
investigated the influence of conductivity on MI, through numeri-
cal simulations. The impedance of the material can be expressed
[36] as
Z ¼ 0:5Zdc kd cothð0:5kdÞ ð6Þ
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where Zdc is the DC resistance and Zdc ¼ rx
1
d
, k ¼ x2rlð1 þ iÞ
It can be seen from the above expressions that the calculation of
the impedance boils down to the calculation of the permeability.
The permeability at an equilibrium condition could be represented
by solving LLG equation and Maxwell equations as-
2
ðcHeq þ cMS þ ixaÞðcHeq þ cMS A þ ixa  cHK sin hÞ  x2
lr ¼ 2
ðcHeq þ cMS þ ixaÞðcHeq þ ixa  cHK sin hÞ  x2
ð7Þ
Fig. 8. Calculated GMI curve with different electrical conductivity (ranging from 2  105 to 15  105/ohm-m) of the FeCo(NiMnSb)SiB ribbons. Side panel: Calculated
variation of MI(%)max with frequency for different electrical conductivity values.
473
and
Heq ¼ Hext sinðh þ h0 Þ þ HK cos2 h  NMS ð8Þ
 
2 2
A ¼ 1 þ ctgðh þ h0 Þ lnðctgðh þ h0 ÞÞ sin ðh þ h0 Þ ð9Þ
p
where N is the demagnetization factor of the ribbon. The impedance
could be obtained by bringing l ¼ lr l0 and l0 ¼ 4p  107 H/m into
the calculation of impedance in Eq. (6).
The r value was varied from 2  105 to 15  105/ohm-m by
retaining other material parameters as is, and the MI was evalu-
ated numerically as shown in Fig. 8. The angle between easy axis
of magnetization and transverse to the length of the ribbon (h0)
assumed to be 5°, angle between easy axis of magnetization and
the saturation magnetization (h) was taken as 45°. Other
parameters- gyromagnetic ratio (c) and damping constant (a)
were taken as 2.2  105 m/As, 0.3 respectively for the simulations.
For the present series of ribbons, experimentally observed MS
value is
9.67  105 A/m and the anisotropy field, Hk
3 Oe and
thickness of the ribbons, d = 40 lm. Here it is assumed that the
demagnetization factor, N is negligible as we have used very long
ribbon (5 cm) for MI measurement. The main panel of the Fig. 8
474 S.K. Manna, V. Srinivas / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 449 (2018) 467–474
shows the simulated MI curves for different r values, at 5 MHz fre-
quency. With increasing r, the MI(%) enhanced sharply.
All the simulated curves show double peak nature, indicating
that the parameters used here are suitable for Co based ribbons
(Transverse alignment of magnetic anisotropy). The calculated MI
(%) value is an order magnitude larger than the experimentally
obtained value. This discrepancy is due to the over simplification
of domain dynamics with the usage ideal parameters in theoretical
modelling. Although the magnitude of MI differs, the trend of MI
variation with magnetic field and frequency are similar in simu-
lated data and experiments.
The numerical simulation of MI has been carried out over the
frequency range 0.5–15 MHz at different r values. The side panel
of Fig. 8 shows the MI(%)max variation with frequency. From the
simulation one can note the following features: (i) All the MI
(%)max vs f curves goes through a maxima and the maxima shifted
to lower f, with increasing r (ii) For lower r, the MI(%)max value
remains almost constant with increasing f. However, for higher
r, MI(%)max value rapidly decreases with increasing f. The above
observations are in agreement with experimental results. Such as
for Rib-I (high r), MI(%)max decreases sharply with increasing elec-
trical conductivity and all the MI(%)max vs f curves go through a
maxima (see Fig. 7).
4. Conclusions
In the present study the role of 3d and 4d transition metal addi-
tives on AC magnetic and magnetoimpedance properties of Co-Fe-
Si-B amorphous ribbons has been investigated. From these studies,
following conclusions are drawn:
(i) AC magnetic studies on Co-Fe(Ni-Mn-Nb)B-Si ribbons in low
field (1000 A/m) and low frequency (DC to 20 kHz) range
show that Co73Fe4.5Nb1.5Si4.2B16.8 ribbon has better soft-
magnetic properties (high permeability and low core loss).
The magnetic parameters are observed to essentially inde-
pendence of frequency, which is attributed to lower eddy
current damping as it has lower electrical conductivity.
These results reveal that addition of Nb reduces the core loss
and enhances AC magnetic properties.
(ii) The changes observed in MI% are attributed to the corre-
sponding change in r and l (permeability) with increasing
Nb content. This study showed material with large r and
moderate l can produce very large MI effect, though core-
loss is higher due to higher r value.
(iii) A double peak in MI profile observed in as-quenched state is
attributed to presence of transverse permeability, which
develops due to the specific domain structure in Co-based
amorphous ribbons.
(iv) The influence of r on MI effect was also examined through
numerical simulation with the existing model. The qualita-
tive results obtained from the simulations are consistent
with experimental results.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Prof. K. Balasubramanian, Dept. of
Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
Chennai for allowing us to use some experimental facilities.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2017.10.071.
References
[1] M.E. McHenry, M.A. Willard, D.E. Laughlin, Prog. Mater. Sci. 44 (1999) 291.
[2] M.L. Sartorelli, M. Knobel, J. Schoenmaker, J. Gutierrez, J.M. Barandiaran, Appl.
Phys. Lett. 71 (1997) 2208.
[3] Y. Ogawa, M. Naoe, Y. Yoshizawa, R. Hasegawa, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 304
(2006) e675.
[4] C.T. Liang, K.L. Chen, Y.P. Tsai, N. Chen, IEEE Trans. Power Deliv. 30 (2015) 184.
[5] C.P. Steinmetz, Proc. IEEE. 72 (1984) 197 (originally published in AIEE Trans. 9
(1892) 3).
[6] C.D. Gmham Jr., J. Appl. Phys. 53 (1982) 8276.
[7] C. Appino, O. de la Barrie‘re, F. Fiorillo, F. Mazaleyrat, C. Ragusa, J. Appl. Phys.
113 (2013) 17A322.
[8] L.P. Lefebvre, S. Pelletier, C. Gelinas, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 176 (1997) L93.
[9] Y. Yoshizawa, S. Oguma, K. Yamauchi, J. Appl. Phys. 64 (1988) 6044.
[10] G. Hampel, A. Pundt, J. Hesse, J. Phys. Condens. Matter 4 (1992) 3195.
[11] G. Herzer, Handbook of Magnetic Materials, Elsevier Science, North Holland,
Amsterdam, 1997.
[12] M. Tejedor, B. Hernando, M.L. Sanchez, V.M. Prida, J.M. Garcia-Beneytez, M.
Vazquez, G. Herzer, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 185 (1998) 61.
[13] J.M. Silveyra, V.J. Cremaschi, G. Vlasák, E. Illekova, D. Janičkovic, P. Švec, J.
Magn. Magn. Mater. 322 (2010) 2350.
[14] M.H. Phan, H.X. Peng, Prog. Mater. Sci. 53 (2008) 323.
[15] M. Knobel, M. Vazquez, L. Kraus, Giant magnetoimpedance, in: K.H.J. Buschow
(Ed.), Handbook of Magnetic Materials, Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam,
2003, pp. 1–69, Chap. 5.
[16] T. Sahoo, A.C. Mishra, V. Srinivas, M. Srinivas, B. Majumdar, D. Akhtar, J. Magn.
Magn. Mater. 321 (2009) 2617.
[17] W. Lua, Y. Xub, J. Shic, Y. Songa, X. Lid, J. Alloys Compd. 638 (2015) 233.
[18] K. Zhang, Z. Lv, Y. Liu, B. Yao, T. Zhang, B. Li, D. Zhou, B. Han, D. Wang, M. Zeng,
J. Phys. D 39 (2006) 4299.
[19] M. Vázquez, M. Knobel, M.L. Sánchez, R. Valenzuela, A.P. Zhukov, Sens.
Actuators A 59 (1997) 20.
[20] M.H. Phan, H.X. Peng, M.R. Wisnom, S.C. Yu, N. Chau, Phys. Status Solidi A 201
(2004) 1558.
[21] H. Chiriac, F. Barariu, M. Neagu, F. Vinai, E. Ferrara, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 250
(1999) 762.
[22] A. Chaturvedi, T. Dhakal, S. Witanachchi, A.T. Le, M.H. Phan, H. Srikanth,
Physica B 405 (2010) 2836.
[23] A. Inoue, B. Shen, Mater. Trans. 43 (2002) 1230.
[24] A.R. Yavari, G. Fish, S.K. Das, L.A. Davis, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 181–182 (1994) 1415.
[25] C.Y. You, T. Ohkubo, Y.K. Takahashi, K. Hono, J. Appl. Phys. 104 (2008) 033517.
[26] Y.C. Kuo, L.S. Zhang, W.K. Zhang, J. Appl. Phys. 52 (1981) 1889.
[27] D. Arvindha Babu, J.A. Chelvane, H. Basumatary, A.P. Srivastava, T. Sahoo, D.
Akhtar, M.M. Raja, Physica B 406 (2011) 3243.
[28] Y. Song, Z. Li, Q. Sun, Z. Tang, T. Zhang, Y. Jiang, J. Phys. D 45 (2012) 225001.
[29] S.K. Manna, D. Prabhu, V. Srinivas, R. Gopalan, IEEE Trans. Magn. 50 (2014)
2008604.
[30] A.K. Giri, K.M. Chowdary, S.A. Majetich, Mater. Phys. Mech. 1 (2000) 1.
[31] S. Chikazumi, Physics of Ferromagnetism, Oxford University Press, 1997.
[32] D.C. Jiles, J. Appl. Phys. 76 (1994) 5849.
[33] D.A. Kaminski, D.C. Jiles, M.J. Sablik, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 104 (1992) 382.
[34] F.L.A. Machado, S.M. Rezende, J. Appl. Phys. 79 (8) (1996) 6558.
[35] L. Kraus, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 196 (1999) 354.
[36] L. Zhou, F. Jin, W. Cheng, Y. Zhang, J. Supercond. Novel Magn. 27 (7) (2014)
1769.