Influence of intermetallic Fe and Co on crystal structure disorder and magnetic property of Ni50Mn32Al18 Heusler alloy

This works reports a study on structure and magnetic properties influenced by both Fe and Co on Ni50Mn32Al18 Heusler alloy as a candidate of magnetocaloric effect (MCE) materials. The Ni-Fe-Mn-Co-Al sample was prepared by arc melting furnace (AMF) in high purity argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction investigation and magnetic hysteresis were conducted to characterize the synthesized sample. X-ray diffraction using Cu-Ka pattern shows that both Fe and Co introduce a tungsten type disorder of Ni50Mn32Al18 Heusler alloy which partially replace the site position of Ni and Mn respectively. However, in this tungsten type disorder, it is difficult to distinguish the exact position of each constituent atom. Therefore, we believe it may allow any exchange interaction of each electron possessed the atom. Interestingly, it produced a significant increase in the value of the hysteresis magnetic saturation.