Vacancy-tuned paramagnetic/ferromagnetic martensitic transformation in Mn-poor Mn_1-xCoGe alloys

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190, China
² School of Material Science and Engineering, Hebei University of Technology - Tianjin 300130, China

^a ghwu@iphy.ac.cn

Received: 25 March 2010
Accepted: 16 June 2010

Abstract

It is shown that a temperature window between the Curie temperatures of martensite and austenite phases around the room temperature can be obtained by a vacancy-tuning strategy in Mn-poor Mn_1-xCoGe alloys (0≤x≤0.050). Based on this, a martensitic transformation from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic martensite with a large magnetization difference can be realized in this window. This gives rise to a magnetic-field–induced martensitic transformation and a giant magnetocaloric effect in the Mn_1−xCoGe system. The decrease of the transformation temperature and of the thermal hysteresis of the transformation, as well as the stable Curie temperatures of martensite and austenite, are discussed on the basis of the Mn-poor Co-vacancy structure and the corresponding valence-electron concentration.