Magnetic properties of composites of Tb_0.28Dy_0.72Fe₂ and polyvinylidene fluoride

Bi-ferroic particulate composites with Tb_0.28Dy_0.72Fe_2 (Terfenol-D) particles randomly dispersed in ferroelectric polyvinylidene fluoride matrix prepared by a simple hot-pressing procedure were investigated. With increasing concentration of Terfenol-D, the magnetic susceptibility, saturation magnetization and initial permeability of the composites increases. The dependence of the effective magnetostriction on applied bias for the composites is similar to that for bulk Terfenol-D, but the effective magnetostriction strongly depends on the volume fraction of Terfenol-D. The observed behaviour of the composite is reasonably described by using effective medium theories.