Magnetic properties and structure of thin Ni-Mn-Sn films and alloys

We report structural and magnetic properties of Ni-Mn-Sn films and compare them with those of the bulk Ni-Mn-Sn alloys. Bulk Ni50Mn50-Sn-x(x) (x approximate to 13-14) Heusler alloys show that at room temperature L2(1) (or B2) ordering for x = 14 and modulated martensitic structure for x = 13, and exhibit martensitic transformations typical of this system. The. ash- evaporated films (200 nm in thickness) deposited from the powders obtained from the same alloys show a X-ray diffraction (XRD) of almost the same lattice spacing but completely different peak intensities with the most intense (1 11) reflection, resulting either from a high (111) texture or the L1(0) ordering. Magnetic properties of the films are typical of soft magnetic films with M-s(0K)approximate to 650 Gs (4 pi M-eff 8000 Gs) with no sign of the martensitic transformation except for some anomalies in the FMR linewidth. (C) 2006 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.