Evolution of magnetic domain structure of martensite in Ni—Mn—Ga films under the interplay of the temperature and magnetic field

Abstract

Ferromagnetic shape memory Ni—Mn—Ga films with 7M modulated structure were prepared on MgO (001) substrates by magnetron sputtering. Magnetization process with a typical two-hysteresis loop indicates the occurrence of the reversible magnetic field-induced reorientation. Magnetic domain structure and twin structure of the film were controlled by the interplay of the magnetic and temperature field. With cooling under an out-of-plane magnetic field, the evolution of magnetic domain structure reveals that martensitic transformation could be divided into two periods: nucleation and growth. With an in-plane magnetic field applied to a thermomagnetic-treated film, the evolution of magnetic domain structure gives evidence of a reorientation of twin variants of martensite. A microstructural model is described to define the twin structure and to produce the magnetic domain structure at the beginning of martensitic transformation; based on this model, the relationship between the twin structure and the magnetic domain structure for the treated film under an in-plane field is also described.