12% magnetic field-induced strain in Ni-Mn-Ga-based non-modulated martensite

Abstract

Magnetic field-induced strain (MFIS) of 12% is reported in ferromagnetic Ni46Mn24Ga22Co4Cu4 martensite exhibiting non-modulated (NM) tetragonal crystal structure with lattice parameter ratio c/a>1. The strain was measured at ambient temperature in a magnetic field of the order of 1 T. The twinning stress σTW and the magnetic stress σMAG were also measured and the condition for a giant MFIS observation σTW<σMAG was confirmed. The MFIS was achieved in NM Ni46Mn24Ga22Co4Cu4 martensite by considerable lowering of the σTW value as compared to the values for NM martensites in ternary Ni-Mn-Ga system.