ArXiv · 2026
Rupalipriyadarsini Chhatoi (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Anuroopa Behatha (Indo Korea Science and Technology Center), Swayang Priya Mahanta (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Shubhransu Sahoo (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Soubhagya Dash (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Bhuvneshwari Sharma (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Abhisek Mishra (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Esita Pandey (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India), Satadeep Bhattacharjee (Indo Korea Science and Technology Center), Subhankar Bedanta (Laboratory for Nanomagnetism and Magnetic Materials, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, India, Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences)
Strain engineering of magnetic properties offers a promising route toward flexible spintronic applications. Here, we report an unconventional magnetoelastic response in Al rich Co Fe Al thin films on flexible substrates using strain dependent magneto optical Kerr effect microscopy and magnetometry measurements. While the films exhibit a conventional positive magnetostriction coefficient, consistent with standard in plane easy axis rotation under stress, their saturation magnetization increases under compressive strain and decreases under tensile strain. First principles calculations reveal that this unconventional response originates from a strain induced competition between exchange splitting and crystal field effects in an inverse Heusler like local environment created by Al enrichment. This leads to a highly sensitive, sublattice dependent magnetic state, consistent with a strain induced reconfiguration of Co and Fe moments. Our results demonstrate that local compositional tuning can fundamentally alter magnetoelastic behavior, establishing strain controlled sublattice compensation as a route toward programmable magnetic functionality in flexible spintronic systems.
