In designing ferrite materials, we usually look for low or practically zero magnetostriction because this led to high permeability and low loss. However, there are cases when we may take advantage of magnetostriction. One such case occurs when we require transducers to convert electrical energy to oscillatory mechanical or acoustic motion. When a magnetic energy is the one being converted, these are called magnetostrictive devices or magneto mechanical devices. Some applications using these are ultrasonic cleaners, ultrasonic machining, ultrasonic delay lines, and devices for generating and detecting underwater sound (sonar) The latter may be used for detecting submarines, fish etc.

A high magnetostriction is a necessary material requirement for the component. In addition it should also possess high resistivity, high Curie point, and a high magneto-mechanical coupling factor. The latter refers to the coupling between the mechanical resonance of the component (related to the dimensions) and the electrical resonance. The quality factor for each of these resonances is given by the Q of the system. Both of these should be as high as possible.

Cobalt alloys & oxides have high magnetostrictions but require high power to saturate. Nickel and nickel alloys are often used because there are lower power requirements. Ferrites are very useful at high frequencies (over MHz) but their brittleness is a problem in mechanical applications. Such properties as temperature dependencies of permeabilities are important since these devices may run hot. Some ferrites are very stable in this respect.