Permalloy, << PUR muh loy, >> is a nickel-iron alloy that is easy to magnetize. It can be magnetized by wrapping an insulated wire around it and sending an electric current through the wire. Permalloy loses its magnetism when the current is turned off. When a weak alternating current is sent through a coil wound around a Permalloy bar, it produces a strong magnetic field in the material. For this reason, Permalloy is an ideal material for use as the core of the low-power inductors and transformers used in communication engineering. The term Permalloy comes from the two words permanent and alloy. Permalloy was developed in 1916 by G. W. Elmen, an engineer for the Western Electric Company. Today, scientists are developing new alloys that have better magnetic properties than Permalloy.
