Effect of temperature variation on the magnetostrictive properties of CoAlxFe2-xO4

The effect of temperature variation on the magnetoelastic properties of the CoAlxFe2-xO4 system (for x=0.0, 0.2, 05, and 0.7) has been studied. Substitution of Al3+ for Fe3+ was found to lower the Curie temperature of the samples and to change the lattice parameter. The magnitude of peak to peak magnetostriction, strain sensitivity, magnetomechanical hysteresis, and relative contributions of lambda(111) and lambda(100) to the resultant magnetostriction were found to vary with temperature. The results show the possibility of tailoring the magnetoelastic properties of highly magnetostrictive cobalt ferrite at temperatures of interest by cation substitution. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3357404]