Magnetic and sensitive magnetoelastic properties of Finemet nanostructured ribbon

Soft-magnetic Fe 73.5 Cu 1 Nb 3 Si 13.5 B 9 (Finemet) ribbon has been fabricated by using melt-spinning techniques. After annealing at suitable temperature the ribbon changes from an amorphous to crystalline state which related to the formation of Fe nanocrystallites. Study on the magnetic and magnetoelastic properties of the ribbon is presented. Furthermore, based on the fabricated ribbon stress sensors are simply constructed. The sensors showed high sensitivity of 3.8 mV/MPa as well as a wide working range up to 17 MPa. These sensors are potential for practical applications such as detecting small stress and movement in civil structures.