Phase dependence of the thermal memory effect in polycrystalline ribbon and bulk Ni55Fe19Ga26 Heusler alloys

The thermal memory effect, TME, has been studied in Ni 55 Fe 19 Ga 26 shape memory alloys, fabricated as ribbons via melt-spinning and as pellets via arc-melting, to evaluate its dependence on the martensitic structure and the macrostructure of the samples. When the reverse martensitic transformation is interrupted, a kinetic delay in the subsequent complete transformation is only evident in the ribbon samples, where the 14M modulated structure is the dominant phase. In contrast, degradation of the modulated structure or the presence of the γ phase significantly reduces the observed TME. In such cases, the magnitude of the TME approaches the detection limits of commercial calorimeters, and only high-resolution calorimeter at very low heating rate (40 mK h −1 ) can show the effect. Following the kinetic arrest and subsequent cooling, the reverse martensitic transformation was completed at several heating rates to confirm the athermal nature of the phenomenon. • Thermal memory effect detected in Ni 55 Fe 19 Ga 26 samples containing 14M modulated phase. • Limitation of the TME due to the presence of γ precipitates. • Ultraslow calorimetry needed to evidence TME in bulk samples with high content of gamma phase.