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Shell-ferromagnetism of nano-Heuslers generated by segregation under magnetic field

We report on a new functional property in an AF martensitic Heusler Ni50Mn45In5, which when annealed at high temperatures under a magnetic field, segregates and forms Ni50Mn25In25 Heusler precipitates embedded in a Ni50Mn50 matrix. The precipitates are paramagnetic whereas the matrix is antiferromagnetic. However, the spins at the interface with the Ni50Mn50 matrix align with the field during their nucleation and growth and become strongly pinned in the direction of the applied field during annealing, whereas the core spins become paramagnetic. This shell-ferromagnetism persists up to 600 K and is so strongly pinned that the remanent magnetization remains unchanged, even when the field is reversed or when the temperature is cycled between low temperatures and close to the annealing temperature.

Magnetic proximity effect and shell-ferromagnetism in metastable Ni50Mn45Ga5

The present study on magnetic and structural properties of Ni50Mn45Ga5 confirms that structural metastability is an inherent property of Ni50Mn50–xXx Heusler alloys with X as In, Ga, and Sn. The ternary alloy transforms during temper-annealing into a dual-phase composite alloy. The two phases are identified to be cubic L21, Ni50Mn25Ga25, and tetragonal L10 Ni50Mn50. Depending on the annealing temperature, the magnetic-proximity effect giving rise to shell-ferromagnetism has been observed when annealing is carried out under an external magnetic field. The upper and lower remanence values MR+ and MR− have the same sign even at high temperatures. Such alloys can be promising candidates for heat- and magnetic-field-resistant magnetic recording media.

Room-temperature five-tesla coercivity of a rare-earth-free shell-ferromagnet

Ni2MnX-based Heusler (X: main group element), when enriched with Mn, will decompose into ferromagnetic Ni2MnX and antiferromagnetic NiMn when temper-annealed around 650 K. When the starting material is chosen such that the X-composition is about 5 at. % and the annealing takes place in the presence of a magnetic field of about 1 T, the resulting material is a composite of nanoprecipitate strongly pinned shell-ferromagnets with a soft ferromagnetic core embedded in the antiferromagnetic matrix. We show that the shells of the precipitates are so strongly pinned that the estimated field required to fully reorient the spins is in the order of 20 T. We examine in a Ni50.0Mn45.1In4.9 sample the pinning and the magnetic interactions of the precipitate and the matrix with magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance studies carried out in fields ranging up to 14 and 12 T, respectively.

Shell-ferromagnetism in a Ni-Mn-In off-stoichiometric Heusler studied by ferromagnetic resonance

Next to the multifunctional properties of Ni-Mn-based Heusler alloys new functionalities related to shell-ferromagnetism are emerging. To understand in more detail the properties of shell-ferromagnetism we examine a decomposed Ni50.0Mn45.1In4.9 off-stoichiometric compound using magnetic resonance techniques which provides details on magnetic interactions. We find that the ferromagnetic resonance profile of the shell-ferromagnetic state is symmetric for positive and negative fields and is independent of the direction of the field-sweep except for the hysteresis observed at small fields.

Shell-ferromagnetism in Ni-Mn-based Heuslers in view of ductile Ni-Mn-Al

The present work deals with magnetic and structural phase instabilities in Ni-Mn-based Heusler alloys especially Ni-Mn-Al. The temper-annealed Ni50Mn45Al5 Heusler alloy decomposes into the full stoichiometric Ni2MnAl and NiMn phases. The decomposed stoichiometric Heusler forms precipitates in an anti-ferromagnetic NiMn matrix and exhibits shell-ferromagnetic properties when the temper-annealing is performed under magnetic field. The shell-ferromagnetism results from the magnetic proximity effect and is observed as vertically shifted magnetization loops. The presence of this property in Ni50Mn45Al5 adds the possibility of having a ductile material while preserving the shell-ferromagnetic properties.

Annealing-time and annealing-temperature dependencies of the size of Ni-Mn-In shell-ferromagnetic nano-precipitates by Scherrer analysis

Shell-ferromagnetic effects are observed in Ni-Mn-based off-stoichiometric Heuslers decomposed into ferromagnetic precipitates embedded in an antiferromagnetic matrix when the surface-to-volume ratio of the precipitates are sufficiently large. However, since the size of the precipitates have until now not been determined, it is not known which ratios are involved. Here we carry out a Scherrer analysis on decomposed specimens to determine the precipitate-size as a function of decomposition temperature and time.

Characteristics of 5M modulated martensite in Ni-Mn-Ga magnetic shape memory alloys

The applicability of the magnetic shape memory effect in Ni-Mn-based martensitic Heusler alloys is closely related to the nature of the crystallographically modulated martensite phase in these materials. We study the properties of modulated phases as a function of temperature and composition in three magnetic shape memory alloys Ni49.8Mn25.0Ga25.2, Ni49.8Mn27.1Ga23.1 and Ni49.5Mn28.6Ga21.9. The effect of substituting Ga for Mn leads to an anisotropic expansion of the lattice, where the b-parameter of the 5M modulated structure increases and the a and c-parameters decrease with increasing Ga concentration. The modulation vector is found to be both temperature and composition dependent. The size of the modulation vector corresponds to an incommensurate structure for Ni49.8Mn25.0Ga25.2 at all temperatures. For the other samples the modulation is incommensurate at low temperatures but reaches a commensurate value of q ≈ 0.400 close to room temperature. The results show that commensurateness of the 5M modulate...