Vacancies in <110>-oriented Tb-Dy-Fe rods, with differing heat-treatments, were investigated by using the positron annihilation technique. It was found that the concentration of atomic vacancies was highest in samples which had been solidified directionally. The concentration of the vacancies decreased sharply with increasing annealing temperature, and reached a minimum value of 154ps at 1293K. Magnetostriction measurement showed that reducing the concentration of vacancies was favourable to enhancing the magnetostrictive properties of the alloy.

Atomic Vacancy Defect in <110> Oriented TbDyFe Alloy and its Effect on the Magnetostrictions. X.X.Gao, M.C.Zhang, H.J.Tang, J.Zhu, S.Z.Zhou: Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2008, 452[2], 419-20