47 research outputs found
Direct Measure of Giant Magnetocaloric Entropy Contributions in Ni-Mn-In
Off-stoichiometric alloys based on Ni 2 MnIn have drawn attention due to the
coupled first order magnetic and structural transformations, and the large
magnetocaloric entropy associated with the transformations. Here we describe
calorimetric and magnetic studies of four compositions. The results provide a
direct measure of entropy changes contributions including at the first-order
phase transitions, and thereby a determination of the maximum field-induced
entropy change corresponding to the giant magnetocaloric effect. We find a
large excess entropy change, attributed to magneto-elastic coupling, but only
in compositions with no ferromagnetic order in the high-temperature austenite
phase. Furthermore, a molecular field model corresponding to antiferromagnetism
of the low-temperature phases is in good agreement, and nearly independent of
composition, despite significant differences in overall magnetic response of
these materials
Calorimetric and magnetic study for NiMnIn and relative cooling power in paramagnetic inverse magnetocaloric systems
The non-stoichiometric Heusler alloy NiMnIn undergoes a
martensitic phase transformation in the vicinity of 345 K, with the high
temperature austenite phase exhibiting paramagnetic rather than ferromagnetic
behavior, as shown in similar alloys with lower-temperature transformations.
Suitably prepared samples are shown to exhibit a sharp transformation, a
relatively small thermal hysteresis, and a large field-induced entropy change.
We analyzed the magnetocaloric behavior both through magnetization and direct
field-dependent calorimetry measurements. For measurements passing through the
first-order transformation, an improved method for heat-pulse relaxation
calorimetry was designed. The results provide a firm basis for the analytic
evaluation of field-induced entropy changes in related materials. An analysis
of the relative cooling power (RCP), based on the integrated field-induced
entropy change and magnetizing behavior of the Mn spin system with
ferromagnetic correlations, shows that a significant RCP may be obtained in
these materials by tuning the magnetic and structural transformation
temperatures through minor compositional changes or local order changes
Electron spin relaxation by nuclei in semiconductor quantum dots
We have studied theoretically the electron spin relaxation in semiconductor
quantum dots via interaction with nuclear spins. The relaxation is shown to be
determined by three processes: (i) -- the precession of the electron spin in
the hyperfine field of the frozen fluctuation of the nuclear spins; (ii) -- the
precession of the nuclear spins in the hyperfine field of the electron; and
(iii) -- the precession of the nuclear spin in the dipole field of its nuclear
neighbors. In external magnetic fields the relaxation of electron spins
directed along the magnetic field is suppressed. Electron spins directed
transverse to the magnetic field relax completely in a time on the order of the
precession period of its spin in the field of the frozen fluctuation of the
nuclear spins. Comparison with experiment shows that the hyperfine interaction
with nuclei may be the dominant mechanism of electron spin relaxation in
quantum dots
High-field magneto-thermo-mechanical testing system for characterizing multiferroic bulk alloys
Multiferroic meta-magnetic shape memoryalloys are well known for exhibiting large magnetic field induced actuation strains, giant magnetocaloric effects, magneto-resistance, and structural and magnetic glassy behaviors. Thus, they are candidates for improving modern day sensing, actuation, magneto-resistance, and solid-state refrigeration processes. Until now, however, experimental apparatuses have typically been able to probe a limited ferroic parameter space in these materials, i.e., only concurrent thermal and mechanical responses, or magnetic and thermal responses. To overcome this barrier and better understand the coupling of multiple fields on materials behavior, a magneto-thermo-mechanical characterization device has been designed and implemented. This device is capable of compressing a specimen at load levels up to 5300 N collinearly with applied fields up to 9 T between temperatures of −100 °C and 120 °C. Uniaxial stress, strain, temperature, magnetic field, and the volumetric average magnetization have been simultaneously measured under mixed loading conditions on a NiCoMnIn meta-magnetic shape memoryalloy and a few selected results are presented here