Giant and reversible room-temperature elastocaloric effect in a single-crystalline Ni-Fe-Ga magnetic shape memory alloy

Good mechanical properties and large adiabatic temperature change render Heusler-type Ni2FeGa-based magnetic shape memory alloys as a promising candidate material for solid-state mechanical cooling application at ambient conditions. Superelastic behavior and associated elastocaloric effect strongly reply on deformation conditions (e.g. applied strain rate and strain level) of stress-induced martensitic transformations. With the aim of developing high-performance elastic cooling materials, in this work, we have carried out a systematic study on a Ni54Fe19Ga27 [420]-oriented single crystal by exploring the interaction between dynamic deformation parameters and thermal response. A giant and reversible adiabatic temperature change of +/- 7.5 K triggered by a low stress of 30 MPa was achieved. Such a high specific cooling performance thus offers the great advantage for the small scale solid-state mechanical cooling applications. Besides, a significant temporary residual strain effect has been observed at high strain rate, which is unfavorable for reversible elastocaloric effect but can be overcome by reducing stress hysteresis, and/or by elevating initial environmental temperature. The established criterion for the desirable reversible elastocaloric properties goes beyond the present system, and can be applicable for other shape memory alloys used for elastic cooling techniques.