Magnetoresistance and magnetocaloric properties involving strong metamagnetic behavior in Fe-doped Ni45(Co1-xFex)5Mn36.6In13.4 alloys

Here, we report the co-substitution of Fe and Co for Ni atoms on metamagnetic behavior, martensitic transformation, and transport and magnetocaloric properties in Ni-45(Co1-xFex)(5)Mn36.6In13.4 (x = 0 similar to 0.05) alloys. It is found that the introduction of Fe atoms stabilizes martensitic phase and shifts martensitic temperature (T-M) to higher temperature. Meanwhile, the Curie temperature T-C of parent phase notably decreases. Upon Fe doping, the low magnetization of martensitic phase keeps nearly unchanged while the magnetization of parent phase slightly decreases. As a result, the Fe-doped samples maintain strong metamagnetic behavior and show great MR and MCE in an extended temperature range around room temperature. The hysteresis loss is reduced upon Fe-doping, which leads to an enhancement of effective RC by 15%. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4732525]