Surface Acoustic Wave Magnetic Sensor using Galfenol Thin Film

The performance of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) magnetic field sensor using galfenol (FeGa) thin film is investigated in this effort. We measure the change in the SAW velocity as a function of an externally applied magnetic field for galfenol films of varying thicknesses. A maximum change of 0.64%, greater than results reported for similar sensors, is obtained with a 500 nm thick film.