Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Magnetically induced reorientation of martensite variants in constrained epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga films grown on MgO(001)
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2008) Thomas, M.; Heczko, O.; Buschbeck, J.; Rößler, U.K.; McCord, J.; Scheerbaum, N.; Schultz, L.; Fähler, S.
    Magnetically induced reorientation (MIR) is observed in epitaxial orthorhombic Ni-Mn-Ga films. Ni-Mn-Ga films have been grown epitaxially on heated MgO(001) substrates in the cubic austenite state. The unit cell is rotated by 45° relative to the MgO cell. The growth, structure texture and anisotropic magnetic properties of these films are described. The crystallographic analysis of the martensitic transition reveals variant selection dominated by the substrate constraint. The austenite state has low magnetocrystalline anisotropy. In the martensitic state, the magnetization curves reveal an orthorhombic symmetry having three magnetically non-equivalent axes. The existence of MIR is deduced from the typical hysteresis within the first quadrant in magnetization curves and independently by texture measurement without and in the presence of a magnetic field probing micro structural changes. An analytical model is presented, which describes MIR in films with constrained overall extension by the additional degree of freedom of an orthorhombic structure compared to the tetragonal structure used in the standard model.
  • Item
    Nanoscale magneto-structural coupling in as-deposited and freestanding single-crystalline Fe7Pd3 ferromagnetic shape memory alloy thin films
    (Abingdon : Taylor & Francis, 2013) Landgraf, A.; Jakob, A.M.; Ma, Y.; Mayr, S.G.
    Ferromagnetic shape memory alloys are characterized by strong magneto-mechanical coupling occurring at the atomic scale causing large magnetically inducible strains at the macroscopic level. Employing combined atomic and magnetic force microscopy studies at variable temperature, we systematically explore the relation between the magnetic domain pattern and the underlying structure for as-deposited and freestanding single-crystalline Fe7Pd3 thin films across the martensite-austenite transition. We find experimental evidence that magnetic domain appearance is strongly affected by the presence and absence of nanotwinning. While the martensite-austenite transition upon temperature variation of as-deposited films is clearly reflected in topography by the presence and absence of a characteristic surface corrugation pattern, the magnetic domain pattern is hardly affected. These findings are discussed considering the impact of significant thermal stresses arising in the austenite phase. Freestanding martensitic films reveal a hierarchical structure of micro- and nanotwinning. The associated domain organization appears more complex, since the dominance of magnetic energy contributors alters within this length scale regime.