Rapid floating zone growth of Ni2MnGa single crystals exhibiting magnetic shape memory functionality
Abstract
To obtain a material exhibiting magnetically induced reorientation (MIR), one of the magnetic shapememory effects, a well-developed method for single crystal growth is crucial. A1/2100oriented Ni2MnGasingle crystal exhibiting MIR was successfully prepared using thefloating-zone technique with a highspeed of 80 mm/h.
The comparison with a sample grown by Bridgman method and a reference samplegrown in AdaptaMat Ltd. by directional solidification is provided based on elemental homogeneity,crystallographic quality by x-ray diffraction, transformation behaviour and magnetic properties. All thesemethods indicated that the single crystal grown byfloating zone with high speed is comparable orsuperior to the samples prepared by other methods.
Importantly, the magnetization measurementrevealed that the single crystal prepared this way exhibits MIR down to 10 K.