Site occupancy, composition and magnetic structure dependencies of martensitic transformation in Mn2Ni1 + xSn1−x. (29th November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kundu, Ashis; Ghosh, Subhradip
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 30:Number 1(2018)
• Publication Date: 2017-11-29
• Subjects: martensitic phase -- site occupancy -- magnetic structure -- Heusler; Condensed matter -- Periodicals; Matière condensée -- Périodiques; Vaste stoffen; Vloeistoffen; Natuurkunde; Electronic journals; Computer network resources; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/aa9a77
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-8984

Abstract

Abstract: A delicate balance between various factors such as site occupancy, composition and magnetic ordering seems to affect the stability of the martensitic phase in M n 2 N i 1 + x S n 1 − x . Using first-principles DFT calculations, we explore the impacts of each one of these factors on the martensitic stability of this system. Our results on total energies, magnetic moments and electronic structures upon changes in the composition, the magnetic configurations and the site occupancies show that the occupancies at the 4d sites in the inverse Heusler crystal structure play the most crucial role. The presence of Mn at the 4d sites originally occupied by Sn and its interaction with the Mn atoms at other sites decide the stability of the martensitic phases. This explains the discrepancy between the experiments and earlier DFT calculations regarding phase stability in M n 2 NiSn. Our results qualitatively explain the trends observed experimentally with regard to martensitic phase stability and the magnetisations in Ni-excess, Sn-deficient M n 2 NiSn system.