Effects of the antiferromagnetic anti-phase domain boundary on the magnetization processes in Ni_2Mn(Ga_(0.5)Al_(0.5)) Heusler alloy

摘要

The effects of anti-phase domain (APD) boundaries on the magnetic properties of Ni_2Mn(Ga_(0.5)Al_(0.5)) alloy were studied by magnetic measurements and transmission electron microscopic observations. The growth of APDs at 773 K followed the square root law for annealing time. While the saturation magnetization and the Curie temperature were hardly affected by the APD size, the magnetization curve in the specimen with smaller mean APD size became harder, caused by the pinning effect of the magnetic domain walls due to the APD boundaries.