The effect of doped elements on the martensitic transformation in Ni-Mn-Ga magnetic shape memory alloy

摘要

Ni-Mn-Ga alloy is a new actuator material due to the fact that its shape memory effect can be controlled by magnetic field in addition to the conventional controls by temperature and stress. However, the alloy shows relatively low martensitic transformation and Curie temperatures. In this paper, we report the results of adding small amounts of Fe, Co and Tb to NiMnGa alloys. The effect of small additions of these doped elements on the martensitic transformation temperature is remarkable, but the Heusler structure of the alloys remains unchanged. For Ni50Mn27Ga23-Fe-x(x) (x = 0, 1, 2) with partial replacement of Ga by Fe, the martensitic transformation temperatures increase with increase of the Fe content, and so does the Curie temperature. This phenomenon of increasing both the martensitic transformation temperatures and the Curie temperature was found for the first time. For Ni47Mn31X1Ga21 (X = Fe, Co), Fe and Co substitution for Mn, Fe increases the martensitic transformation temperature but decreases the Curie temperature, while Co has the opposite effect. For Ni48Mn33Ga18Tb1, the addition of the rare earth element Tb decreases the martensitic transformation temperature and the Curie temperature remarkably. Therefore, the transformation temperatures of the alloys can be improved by these doping methods.