Giant magnetostriction in magnetite nanoparticles

Typically the value of the magnetostrictive coefficient (λ) observed for bulk magnetic materials such as cubic ferrites is 10−6. However, giant magnetostriction (λ ≤ 10−3) is only observed in a few bulk intermetallic materials based on alloys of rare earth and iron such as TbFe, TbFe2, DyFe2 and Terefenol-D. While giant magnetostriction is known in nanostructured films, we show for the first time, this phenomenon occurs in magnetic nanoparticles. By using in-field small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) as a tool, we demonstrate that a 4% relative change in dimension of the particle can be observed in 5.0 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles at room temperature with 1 kG magnetic field. Also, we propose that the observed values are due to interaction effects and magnetoelastic coupling of particle magnetic moments and external magnetic field.