Stable magnetostructural coupling with tunable magnetoresponsive effects in hexagonal ferromagnets.

Liu, Enke; Wang, Wenhong; Feng, Lin; Zhu, Wei; Li, Guijiang; Chen, Jinglan; Zhang, Hongwei; Wu, Guangheng et al. · Nat Commun · 2012

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

The magnetostructural coupling between the structural and the magnetic transition has a crucial role in magnetoresponsive effects in a martensitic-transition system. A combination of various magnetoresponsive effects based on this coupling may facilitate the multifunctional applications of a host material. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining a stable magnetostructural coupling over a broad temperature window from 350 to 70 K, in combination with tunable magnetoresponsive effects, in MnNiGe:Fe alloys. The alloy exhibits a magnetic-field-induced martensitic transition from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic martensite. The results indicate that stable magnetostructural coupling is accessible in hexagonal phase-transition systems to attain the magnetoresponsive effects with broad tunability.