The effects of Cu-substitution and high-pressure synthesis on phase transitions in Ni2MnGa Heusler alloys

The magnetic, structural, and thermal behaviors of the Cu-doped Heusler alloy Ni2Mn1-xCuxGa (0 <= x <= 0.4) were studied as a function of concentration x. As the Cu concentration increased, the structural transition temperatures increased, whereas the chemical order-disorder transitions and melting points decreased. The experimental results from temperature dependent X-ray diffraction reveal different crystal structures of the martensite phase at low temperatures for samples with different x, but all the samples ultimately crystallized in the L2(1) cubic crystal structure upon heating above their respective structural transitions. The experimental data were used to construct a comprehensive magnetic and structural phase diagram as a function of x from below their respective structural transition temperatures to their melting temperatures. The XRD analysis shows that the observed volume reduction is associated with the increasing structural transition temperature. Therefore, one of the samples was annealed under high pressure to permanently reduce its volume, and the correlation between the increasing structural transition temperatures and volumes was confirmed. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The magnetic, structural, and thermal behaviors of Cu-doped Heusler alloy Ni2Mn1-xCuxGa (0 <= x <= 0.4) were investigated as a function of Cu concentration. Increasing Cu concentration led to higher structural transition temperatures, while chemical order-disorder transition temperatures and melting points decreased. The study constructed a comprehensive phase diagram of magnetic and structural properties as a function of Cu concentration.