Magnetic, thermal, and electrical properties of an Ni45.37Mn40.91In13.72 Heusler alloy

• Published in: Journal of experimental and theoretical physics 2016-05, Vol.122 (5), p.874-882
• Main Authors: Batdalov, A. B., Aliev, A. M., Khanov, L. N., Buchel’nikov, V. D., Sokolovskii, V. V., Koledov, V. V., Shavrov, V. G., Mashirov, A. V., Dil’mieva, E. T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Disorder; Elementary Particles; Order; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Phase Transition in Condensed System; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theory; Relativity Theory; Solid State Physics
• ISSN: 1063-7761; 1090-6509
• DOI: 10.1134/S1063776116040129

The magnetization, the electrical resistivity, the specific heat, the thermal conductivity, and the thermal diffusion of a polycrystalline Heusler alloy Ni 45.37 Mn 40.91 In 13.72 sample are studied. Anomalies, which are related to the coexistence of martensite and austenite phases and the change in their ratio induced by a magnetic field and temperature, are revealed and interpreted. The behavior of the properties of the alloy near Curie temperature T C also demonstrates signs of a structural transition, which suggests that the detected transition is a first-order magnetostructural phase transition. The nontrivial behavior of specific heat detected near the martensite transformation temperatures is partly related to a change in the electron density of states near the Fermi level. The peculiar peak of phonon thermal conductivity near the martensitic transformation is interpreted as a consequence of the appearance of additional soft phonon modes, which contribute to the specific heat and the thermal conductivity.