  Huge deformations of the crystal lattice can be achieved in materials with
inherent structural instability by epitaxial straining. By coherent growth on
seven different substrates the in-plane lattice constants of 50 nm thick
Fe70Pd30 films are continuously varied. The maximum epitaxial strain reaches
8,3 % relative to the fcc lattice. The in-plane lattice strain results in a
remarkable tetragonal distortion ranging from c/abct = 1.09 to 1.39, covering
most of the Bain transformation path from fcc to bcc crystal structure. This
has dramatic consequences for the magnetic key properties. Magnetometry and
X-ray circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements show that Curie temperature,
orbital magnetic moment, and magnetocrystalline anisotropy are tuned over broad
ranges.
