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A study was conducted to analyze the influence of postdeposition annealing with an d without a magnetic field on the crystallographic texture of Terfenol-D thin films. It was forecast that the (111) textured films would enhance magnetostrictive strains attainable for device applications. Experimental results indicated that the presence of magnetic field parallel to the film plane during annealing of samples on terbium substrates supports in-plane orientation of (220) planes of RFe2 phase.

The annealing behavior of amorphous terfenol-D thin films is examined in this work. Amorphous thin films were prepared by DC magnetron sputter deposition from alloy targets. Differential scanning calorimetry of these films was performed in the temperature range 100-800 [degrees] C. Based on DSC data annealing experiments were performed at 400, 550, 575, 600 and 650 [degrees] C. X-ray diffraction shows R[Fe.sub.2] phase is formed when samples are annealed at 575-600 [degrees] C. Other phases observed are Fe and rare earth oxide.