Extended and local effects of cold work in Heusler alloys

Abstract

The authors find from NMR (spin-echo) and X-ray diffraction that plastic deformations during cold work introduce many dislocations and associated lattice deformations in a number of Heusler alloys: Pd2MnSn, Pd2MnSb, Cu2MnIn, Cu2MnAl, Ni2MnIn, Pd2MnIn and NiMnSb. In Pd2MnSn these effects are very important and result in atomic disorder. In other alloys cold work produces distortions but apparently no atomic disorder. The strong effects of cold work on Heusler alloys (L21 structure) contrast with almost unobservable effects in the Clb structure alloy NiMnSb.