Martensitic phase transition, inverse magnetocaloric effect, and magnetostrain in Ni50Mn37-xFexIn13 Heusler alloys

Abstract

In this paper, we have performed the martensitic phase transition, inverse magnetocaloric effect, and magnetostrain in Ni50Mn37-xFexIn13 (x = 1–4) Heusler alloys. Experimental results indicate that the martensitic phase transition temperature in these materials decreases dramatically with increasing Fe substitution for Mn, which can be explained by the hybridization between Ni and Mn atoms. Large magnetic entropy for Ni50Mn35Fe2In13 could be achieved above room temperature under the applied magnetic field up to 80 kOe. In addition, an enhanced magnetostrain (0.28%) at 110 K associated with the phase transition in Ni50Mn33Fe4In13 was observed after the martensitic phase transformation induced by demagnetization at 100 K. The reason for the enhanced strain has been discussed in detail.