Papers by Author: David Serrate

Abstract: We review the composition dependence of the structural and magnetic properties of the Co-doped Ni–Mn–Ga Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloy around the Mn-rich composition Ni50Mn30Ga20. The presence of Co affects the critical temperatures and alters the exchange interactions of martensite and austenite to different extents; by varying the composition it is possible to tune the critical temperatures and to induce a “paramagnetic gap” between the magnetically ordered martensite and magnetic austenite, thus giving rise to a reverse magnetostructural transformation. The magnetic and structural properties display noticeable discontinuities across the martensitic transformation: remarkable values of the saturation magnetization jump at the transformation (DM), of the field dependence of the martensitic transformation temperature (dTM/dH), and of the crystalline volume change (DV/V) are reported, and are considerably enhanced by additional Indoping of the quaternary alloy. These properties give rise to a remarkable phenomenology which is of interest for multifunctional applications; magnetic superelasticity and high values of reversible strain are found.

Abstract: A combined XRD, Mössbauer, SEM, STXM and NMR study of naturally oxidised, ball milled iron powders is presented. The XRD patterns show the peaks of the bcc-Fe phase with the line widths increasing with the milling time. This corresponds to a flattening of the crystallites, as confirmed by SEM, and increased strain due to the accumulation of defects. The effect is consistent with the variation of the Mössbauer line-widths with the milling time. Scanning Transmission Xray Microscopy (STXM) measurements provided oxygen maps of the particles and revealed that the dominant oxide in the nanometric oxide layer is magnetite. The 57Fe spin echo NMR study reveals a dominant signal corresponding to a bcc-Fe core and a much weaker resonance corresponding to a magnetite amount of less than 1%.