Charge carrier concentration and structural transition temperatures in Heusler alloys Ni50Mn36Sb14-xZx (Z = Al, Ge; X = 0; 1; 2; 3; 4)

Abstract

The temperature dependences of magnetization and electrical resistance of the Ni50Mn36Sb14-xZx (Z = Al, Ge; x = 0; 1; 2; 3; 4) alloys have been used to determine the structural transition temperatures (STT) such as: Ms, Mf, As and Af (temperatures of the start and finish of martensitic and austenitic transformations, respectively). Effect of various parameters (e/a, Vcell, n) on the STT was studied. Using Hall Effect the concentration of charge carriers n∗ was obtained and it was found that n∗ is not strongly correlated with a behaviour of STT, there is only a general trend with exceptions. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.