Identification of Crystal Structure and Crystallographic Features of NiMnGa Thin Films by Combination of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD)

Abstract

In this work, NiMnGa thin film composed of non-modulated martensite (NM) and seven-layered modulated martensite (7M) was produced. The crystal structure and lattice constants were determined by X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The preferred crystallographic orientation of martensite was determined using the four-circle XRD. SEM/EBSD was employed to verify the crystal structure of the martensite and to reveal its crystallographic features correlated with the microstructure. According to the XRD patterns, the crystal structure of NM and 7M was determined as tetragonal and monoclinic crystal structure, respectively. Pole figures measured by four-circle diffractometer revealed that the NM martensite possesses (004)NM and (220)NM preferred plane texture close to the substrate surface, whereas the 7M martensite has (2 0 20)7M, (2 0 )7M and (040)7M preferred plane texture close to the substrate surface. SEM/EBSD analysis shows that the surface layer of the film is mainly composed of NM martensite that is organized in variant groups. In each variant group, all the martensite plates consist of paired lamellar (112)NM compound twins and there are eight orientation variants in each variant group.