Yuanlei Zhang

Two successive magneto-structural transformations and their relation to enhanced magnetocaloric effect for Ni55.8Mn18.1Ga26.1 Heusler alloy.

In the present work, two successive magneto-structural transformations (MSTs) consisting of martensitic and intermartensitic transitions have been observed in polycrystalline Ni55.8Mn18.1Ga26.1 Heusler alloy. Benefiting from the additional latent heat contributed from intermediate phase, this alloy exhibits a large transition entropy change ΔStr with the value of ~27 J/kg K. Moreover, the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) has been also evaluated in terms of Maxwell relation. For a magnetic field change of 30 kOe, it was found that the calculated value of refrigeration capacity in Ni55.8Mn18.1Ga26.1 attains to ~72 J/kg around room temperature, which significantly surpasses those obtained for many Ni-Mn based Heusler alloys in the same condition. Such an enhanced MCE can be ascribed to the fact that the isothermal entropy change ΔST is spread over a relatively wide temperature interval owing to existence of two successive MSTs for studied sample.

Magnetocaloric effect and negative thermal expansion in hexagonal Fe doped MnNiGe compounds with a magnetoelastic AFM-FM-like transition

We report a detailed study of two successive first-order transitions, including a martensitic transition (MT) and an antiferromagnetic (AFM)-ferromagnetic (FM)-like transition, in Mn1-xFexNiGe (x = 0, 0.06, 0.11) alloys by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, magnetization and linear thermal expansion measurements. Such an AFM-FM-like transition occurring in the martensitic state has seldom been observed in the M(T) curves. The results of Arrott plot and linear relationship of the critical temperature with M2 provide explicit evidence of its first-order magnetoelastic nature. On the other hand, their performances as magnetocaloric and negative thermal expansion materials were characterized. The isothermal entropy change for a field change of 30 kOe reaches an impressive value of −25.8 J/kg K at 203 K for x = 0.11 compared to the other two samples. It demonstrates that the magneto-responsive ability has been significantly promoted since an appropriate amount of Fe doping can break the local Ni-6Mn AFM configuration. Moreover, the Fe-doped samples reveal both the giant negative thermal expansion and near-zero thermal expansion for different temperature ranges. For instance, the average thermal expansion coefficient ā of x = 0.06 reaches −60.7 × 10−6/K over T = 231–338 K and 0.6 × 10−6/K over T = 175–231 K during cooling.

Electrical transport properties and giant baroresistance effect at martensitic transformation of Ni43.7Fe5.3Mn35.4In15.6 Heusler alloy

The electrical transport properties at martensitic transformation (MT) in polycrystalline Ni43.7Fe5.3Mn35.4In15.6 have been intensively investigated under different hydrostatic pressures. For this alloy, the experimental results show that applying a higher hydrostatic pressure can convert its MT from the metamagnetic type into the paramagnetic type. It provides a unique opportunity to separate the relative contributions of electron-spin and electron-lattice scatterings across the metamagnetic MT based on the dynamical Clausius-Clapeyron equation, which delivers a deeper insight into the resistivity change of metamagnetic MT for the Mn-rich Ni-Mn based Heusler alloys. In addition, the studied alloy also reveals a giant positive baroresistance (BR) effect with a saturated value of 115% at 242 K. This performance originates from the combined effect of electron-spin and electron-lattice scatterings associated with a prominent hydrostatic pressure-induced MT, which contribute 46% and 69% to the overall BR rati...

Realization of metamagnetic martensitic transformation with multifunctional properties in Co50V34Ga16 Heusler alloy

In this work, we have developed a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Co50V34Ga16 with a metamagnetic martensitic transformation (MT) from the high-magnetization austenitic phase to the low-magnetization martensitic phase. As a consequence of a strong coupling between structure and magnetic degrees of freedom, the metamagnetic MT of this alloy is relatively sensitive to the external magnetic field, thus giving rise to a field-induced reverse MT. Associated with such a unique behavior, both considerable inverse magnetocaloric effect (9.6 J/kg K) and magnetostrain (0.07%) have also been obtained under the magnetic field change of 3 T. Our experimental results indicate that this kind of Co-V based alloy probably becomes an alternatively promising candidate for applications in magnetic sensors and magnetic refrigeration.In this work, we have developed a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Co50V34Ga16 with a metamagnetic martensitic transformation (MT) from the high-magnetization austenitic phase to the low-magnetization martensitic phase. As a consequence of a strong coupling between structure and magnetic degrees of freedom, the metamagnetic MT of this alloy is relatively sensitive to the external magnetic field, thus giving rise to a field-induced reverse MT. Associated with such a unique behavior, both considerable inverse magnetocaloric effect (9.6 J/kg K) and magnetostrain (0.07%) have also been obtained under the magnetic field change of 3 T. Our experimental results indicate that this kind of Co-V based alloy probably becomes an alternatively promising candidate for applications in magnetic sensors and magnetic refrigeration.

The effect of Pd on martensitic transformation and magnetic properties for Ni50Mn38−xPdxSn12Heusler alloys

In the past decade, Mn rich Ni-Mn based alloys have attained considerable attention due to their abundant physics and potential application as multifunctional materials. In this paper, polycrystalline Ni50Mn38−xPdxSn12 (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) Heusler alloys have been prepared, and the martensitic phase transformation (MPT) together with the shape memory effect and the magnetocaloric effect has been investigated. The experimental result indicates that the MPT evidently shifts to a lower temperature with increase of Pd substitution for Mn atoms, which can be attributed to the weakness of the hybridization between the Ni atom and excess Mn on the Sn site rather than the electron concentration. The physics properties study focused on the sample of Ni50Mn34Pd4Sn12 shows a good two-way shape memory behavior, and the maximum value of strain Δ L/L reaches about 0.13% during the MPT. The small of both entropy change Δ ST and magnetostrain can be ascribed to the inconspicuous influence of magnetic field induced MPT.