Stress-induced change of magnetization in a Ni–Mn–Ga single crystal under magnetomechanical training

Abstract

The effect of magnetomechanical training on the stress-induced change of magnetization in a Ni50.3Mn28.7Ga21 single crystal is studied. The crystal was initially deformed for three cycles under an orthogonal magnetic field. After this magnetomechanical training, the direction of the applied magnetic field was changed, respectively, to 45°, 90°, and 180° angles with respect to the initial orientation and the sample was further tested. It is found that both the mechanical and the magnetic behavior depend strongly on the direction of the applied magnetic field once the sample is magnetomechanically trained. This phenomenon can be understood from the fact that the magnetomechanical training results in a stable preferential orientation of martensite variants.