Manipulation of the Martensitic Transformation and Exchange Bias Effect in the Ni45Co5Mn37In13 Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloy Films

Abstract

The martensitic phase transition and exchange bias effect of the Ni-Mn-based ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMAs) Ni45Co5Mn37In13 (Ni-Co-Mn-In) films are investigated in this paper. The martensitic transformation properties of the Ni-Co-Mn-In alloy target material are manipulated by the process of electric arc melting, melt-fast quenching, and high-temperature thermal pressure. The Ni-Co-Mn-In alloy films with martensite phase transition characteristics are obtained by adjusting deposition parameters on the (001) MgO substrate, which shows a significant exchange bias (EB) effect at different temperatures. With increasing sputtering power and time, the film thickness increases, resulting in a gradual relaxation of the constraints at the interface between the film and the substrate (the interfacial strain decreases as the increase of thin film thickness), which promotes the martensite phase transition. Between zero-field cooling (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) curve obvious division zone, the decrease of exchange bias field (HEB) and coercive force field (Hc) with an increase in test temperature is due to ferromagnetic (FM) interaction begins to dominate, resulting in a reduction of antiferromagnetic (AFM) anisotropy at the interface. The maximal HEB and Hc reach ~465.7 Oe and ~306.9 Oe at 5 K, respectively. The manipulation of the martensitic transformation and EB effect of the Ni-Co-Mn-In alloy films demonstrates potential application in the field of information and spintronics.