In situ study of temperature dependent magnetothermoelastic correlated behavior in ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

This study reports the first in situ observation of temperature-dependent micromagnetic and twin structure in oriented single crystals of Ni–Mn–Ga Heusler alloys. Micromagnetic measurements were made over a temperature interval of 50 to −35 °C covering both forward and reverse martensitic transformation. Magnetic domains in the martensite phase were found to be uniformly spaced (25–30 μm); the direction of the domain walls conforms to the changing direction of the magnetic easy axis as they traverse from one twin to another. The martensite twins could be reoriented in applied fields as low as 1300 Oe.