Features of the low-temperature magnetic-field-induced order–order transitions in alloys of the system Fe a−x Mn x As with a⩽1.6

• Published in: Low temperature physics (Woodbury, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2004-09, Vol.30 (9), p.700-704
• Main Authors: Asadov, S. K., Val’kov, V. I., Zavadskii, E. A., Kamenev, V. I., Todris, B. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1063-777X; 1090-6517
• DOI: 10.1063/1.1802953

Spontaneous and magnetic-field-induced first-order transitions of the order–order type in Fe 0.5 Mn 1.1 As and Fe 0.55 Mn 1.04 As single crystals with the C38 lattice (symmetry space group P4/nmm) are investigated at hydrostatic pressures up to 7 kbar in the temperature range from 4.2 to 300 K. The temperature and field dependences of the magnetization at different values of the pressure are measured in static and pulsed magnetic fields. It is established on the basis of the results that the first-order transitions from a low-magnetic to a high-magnetic phase induced by magnetic field pulses at low temperatures are irreversible, but with a finite existence time of the high-magnetic phase. A qualitative explanation of the observed effect is proposed on the basis of the theory of magnetostrictive blocking of the formation of new-phase nuclei at first-order phase transitions.