Large reversible magnetostrain in polycrystalline Ni50Mn33In17−xGax

doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.04.249

Journal of Alloys and Compounds

Volume 681, 5 October 2016, Pages 1-5

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.04.249 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Polycrystalline Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x with highly textured structure were prepared.
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The transformation strain is greatly increased by Ga doping.
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A large reversible magnetostrain is observed for all samples.
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The strain shows a significant anisotropy behavior.

Abstract

The structure and strain behavior associated with martensitic transformation for polycrystalline Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x (x = 4, 5, 7, 8) have been investigated. All samples show a bcc Heusler structure at room temperature. A large positive transformation strain parallel the solidification direction and negative strain perpendicular to this direction are observed upon martensitic transformation. The same value of reversible magnetostrain in a magnetic field of 70 kOe is found due to the magnetic field-induced reverse martensitic transformation. The largest value of −0.28% and 0.49% along this two directions were observed for x = 4 sample, which is much larger than that in Co-doped NiMnIn polycrystalline. The strain value shows a little decrease with increasing Ga content. Texture and anisotropy effect on the strain are discussed.

Introduction

In recent years, NiMnIn ferromagnetic shape memory alloys have attained considerable attention due to the novel physics and potential applications as multifunctional materials, such as giant exchange bias [1], [2], large magnetoresistance effect [3], [4], large magnetocaloric effect [5], [6], large shape memory effect [7], [8], etc. Among these interesting properties, magnetic field induced strain (MFIS) is an important issue because of their potential applications for magnetic sensors and actuator materials. It is known that the large MFIS in NiMnGa shape memory alloys is due to the magnetic field-induced rearrangement of the martensitic twin variants, which is closely related to the modulated structure [9]. Accordingly, the microscopic origin of the martensitic phase transformation in NiMnGa has received considerable attention in recent years [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]. In 2006, Kainuma et al. reported a giant MFIS with the value of 3% in prestrained samples of NiCoMnIn single crystal [15]. Different from that in NiMnGa alloys, the mechanism of the large MFIS is the magnetic field-induced martensitic-austenite phase transformation. However, it is difficult to obtain single crystal samples. Thus, from a technological point of view, polycrystals without prestrain should be considered, which are easier to synthesize. In general, polycrystals usually exhibit very low strains because of the different orientations of individual grains. An approach to improve the polycrystalline material is to develop a coarse-grained and highly textured microstructure [16]. Liu et al. have reported the strong temperature gradient in one dimension can lead to a preferred crystallographic orientation in arc-melted button sample [7]. However, in ternary polycrystalline NiMnIn, the textured microstructure is usually poor and the value of MFIS is relatively low (≈0.1%) [17], [18], which limited their practical applications. Recently, several studies indicate that textured structure is very sensitive to the chemical composition. By doping Si and Sb, the value of MFIS was increased to 1% and 1.7% in polycrystalline NiMnIn alloys, respectively [19], [20]. However, such large values are irreversible due to the occurrence of the irreversible magnetic field-induced austenite. Thus, both textured sample and a reversible magnetic field-induced phase transformation are desired for a large reversible MFIS. Very recently, several studies have reported the martensitic transformation behavior in Ga doped NiMnIn alloys [21], [22]. The martensitic transformation can be induced by magnetic field and the ability of the field-induced martensitic transformation can be realized in a wide window of composition. Taking into account the large lattice distortion reported in Ref. [21], a large MFIS can be anticipated in this system. In this letter, we reported the temperature and magnetic field-induced strain in Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x system. A large reversible MFIS is observed in all samples and the strain shows a significant anisotropic behavior.

Section snippets

Experimental details

The polycrystalline Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x (x = 4, 5, 7 and 8) ingots, henceforth named Ga4, Ga5, Ga7 and Ga8 were prepared by arc melting high purity metals under argon atmosphere. The ingots were melted four times to guarantee good alloying. The mass loss was found to be less than 0.5%, so the composition is expected to be the nominal value. To ensure homogenization and obtain a fully ordered L2₁ phase, the ingots were annealed in vacuum quartz tubes at 1073 K for 24 h and then 873 K for 24 h,

Results and discussions

Fig. 1(a) shows powder X-ray diffraction patterns at room temperature for Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x (x = 4, 5, 7, 8) alloys. All samples show a cubic austenite structure at room temperature. No extra reflection was found. The presence of (111) superlattice reflection indicates an ordered Heusler L2₁ structure for Ga4 and Ga5. This reflection is absent with increasing Ga doping (i.e. Ga8), indicating the atom occupancy disorder between Mn and In (Ga). The calculated cubic lattice parameter with Ga

Conclusions

In summary, we have systematically studied the strain behavior related to martensitic transition in polycrystalline Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x. All samples show a large transformation strain and the strain shows a significant anisotropy behavior, indicating that a fine preferred orientation was formed. A reversible magnetostrain was observed for all samples due to the magnetic field-induced reverse martensitic transformation. The largest value of −0.28% and 0.49% for parallel and perpendicular to the

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant No. 2015CB921502, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11474184, 11174183 and 1150420, and the 111 Project under Grant No. B13029.

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Large reversible magnetostrain in polycrystalline Ni50Mn33In17−xGax

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental details

Results and discussions

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

J. Alloys Compd.

Scr. Mater.

J. Alloys Compd.

J. Alloys Compd.

J. Alloys Compd.

Intermetallics

Phys. Rev. Lett.

Appl. Phys. Lett.

Appl. Phys. Lett.

Appl. Phys. Lett.

Nat. Mater.

Large reversible magnetostrain in polycrystalline Ni₅₀Mn₃₃In_17−xGa_x