0000000000959241
AUTHOR
Richard Hausmanns
Structure and Microscopic Magnetism of Epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga Films
We report on the structural and magnetic properties of epitaxial thin films of the ferromagnetic shape memory material Ni–Mn–Ga prepared by DC magnetron sputter deposition. Different substrate materials, i.e., MgO(100) and Al2O3(11−20) allow for a tailored epitaxial growth. Using a sacrificial chromium buffer layer freestanding epitaxial films are obtained. In combination with photolithography partially freestanding structures such as microbridges are fabricated. The complex martensite crystal structure in substrate-constrained and freestanding films is studied by means of X-ray diffraction. The identified asymmetric twin variant configuration is associated with a macroscopic surface patter…
Microstructure of freestanding single-crystalline Ni2MnGa thin films
Abstract The complex crystal structure and variant distribution of single-crystalline freestanding Ni–Mn–Ga films was studied in detail using X-ray diffraction in two- and four-circle geometry. Selective chemical etching of a chromium buffer layer facilitates the release of the rigid MgO substrate that would inhibit magnetically induced reorientation (MIR) of variants. The substrate-constrained as well as the freestanding films possess identical crystal structure featuring a seven-layered (pseudo-)orthorhombic modulation (7 M/14 M). Of the 12 different variants observed before and after releasing the film from the substrate, four are predominantly represented. These have the short c -axis a…