Magnetostructural Phases Transformations in Ni50Mn50-xInx Shape Memory Alloys
Abstract: The multiferroic Heusler alloy Ni50Mn50-xInx exhibits a number of intriguing properties related to a coupled magnetostructural phase transformation. These properties include the magnetocaloric and barrocaloric effects, shape memory effect, reentrant ferromagnetism, and large magnetoresistance. Tuning alloy composition has proven central to optimizing the alloy performance for real word applications. We investigate the use of a fully first-principles-based approach to generate magnetostrcutral phase diagrams for multiferroic Heusler alloys, using Ni50Mn50-xInx as our benchmark. This work is still ongoing but could prove to be a valuable tool for materials discovery. Additionally, we have investigated the effects of extreme pressures on the magnetostrucutal phase transformation in Ni50Mn50-xInx. While the vast majority of studies have investigated the effects of alloy composition on the magnetostructural phase transformation in Ni50Mn50-xInx, the effects of pressure on the transformation have been relatively unexplored. We report the results of high energy synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements of the pressure induced magnetostructural transformation in Ni50Mn50-xInx. A composition of x=0.61 was chosen and both single crystal and powder samples were used. All measurements were carried out in collaboration with HPCAT at the Advanced Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory."
About the QSQM: The EFRC-QSQM center aims to develop and apply nontrivial quantum sensing to measure and correlate local and nonlocal quantum observables in exotic superconductors, topological crystalline insulators, and strange metals. The center is led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with the University of Illinois at Chicago and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
