Metastability of magneto-structural transition revealed by sweep rate dependence of magnetization in Ni45Co5Mn38Sb12 Heusler alloy

The metastable nature of the first order magneto-structural transition has been revealed by various sweep rate dependence of magnetization studies. The quenching of the martensitic/austenite phase with higher sweep rate has been shown by temperature/field sweep rate dependence magnetization studies. The thermal hysteresis (magnetic hysteresis) is found to decrease with lower temperature (field) sweep rates. It is also observed that magnetization abruptly changes during the various field stops around the transition region. The growth of the magnetization during various field stops in the zero field cooled curve reveals the glassy nature of the low temperature region. All the measurements in the present case clearly show the metastable nature of the transition region. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3536601]