Designing vibration energy harvesting devices using magnetostrictive iron gallium alloys

To clarify a guideline for designing a vibration energy harvesting device using magnetostrictive materials, the characteristics of the vibration energy harvesting device with an Fe-Ga alloy single crystal were investigated. Magnetic flux density changes and strain amplitude generated in the device were measured using coils and strain gauges, respectively. The results were compared between devices with alloy crystals of (110)[001] and (110)[1¯11] orientations. The strains in the devices during vibration showed that uniform strains are important for obtaining high magnetic flux changes. A guideline for designing a device with high performance is proposed based on these results.