Experimental observation of vacancy-assisted martensitic transformation shift in Ni-Fe-Ga alloys

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy is used to experimentally demonstrate the direct relationship between vacancies and the shift of the martensitic transformation temperature in a Ni55Fel7Ga28 alloy. The evolution of vacancies assisting the ordering enables shifts of the martensitic transfo...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Unzueta, Iraultza, Alonso de Robador Lorente, Daniel, Cesari, Eduard, Sánchez-Alarcos Gómez, Vicente, Recarte Callado, Vicente, Pérez de Landazábal Berganzo, José Ignacio, García, José Ángel, Plazaola, Fernando
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2019
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Pública de Navarra
Repository:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra
OAI Identifier:oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/35939
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2454/35939
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Ferromagnetism
Martensitic phase transition
Heusler alloy
Density functional theory
Differential scanning calorimetry
Electron-correlation calculations
Positron annihilation spectroscopy
Description
Summary:Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy is used to experimentally demonstrate the direct relationship between vacancies and the shift of the martensitic transformation temperature in a Ni55Fel7Ga28 alloy. The evolution of vacancies assisting the ordering enables shifts of the martensitic transformation up to 50 K. Our results confirm the role that both vacancy concentration and different vacancy dynamics play in samples quenched from the L2(1) and B2 phases, which dictate the martensitic transformation temperature and its subsequent evolution. Finally, by electron-positron density functional calculations V-Ni is identified as the most probable vacancy present in Ni55Fe17Ga28. This work evidences the capability of vacancies for the fine-tuning of the martensitic transformation temperature, paving the way for defect engineering of multifunctional properties.