TY - JOUR A1 - Kar, S. A1 - Ikeda, Yuki A1 - Lünser, K. A1 - Woodcock, Th. G. A1 - Nielsch, K. A1 - Reith, H. A1 - Maaß, Robert A1 - Fähler, S. T1 - Growth Twins and Premartensite Microstructure in Epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga Films JF - Acta Materialia N2 - Magnetic shape memory alloys have been examined intensively due to their multifunctionality and multitude of physical phenomena. For both areas, epitaxial films are promising since the absence of grain boundaries is beneficial for applications in microsystems and they also allow to understand the influence of a reduced dimension on the physical effects. Despite many efforts on epitaxial films, two particular aspects remain open. First, it is not clear how to keep epitaxial growth up to high film thickness, which is required for most microsystems. Second, it is unknown how the microstructure of premartensite, a precursor state during the martensitic transformation, manifests in films and differs from that in bulk. Here, we focus on micrometer-thick austenitic Ni-Mn-Ga films and explain two distinct microstructural features by combining high-resolution electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. First, we identify pyramid-shaped defects, which originate from {1 1 1} growth twinning and cause the breakdown of epitaxial growth. We show that a sufficiently thick Cr buffer layer prevents this breakdown and allows epitaxial growth up to a thickness of at least 4 μm. Second, premartensite exhibits a hierarchical microstructure in epitaxial films. The reduced dimension of films results in variant selection and regions with distinct premartensite variants, unlike its microstructure in bulk. KW - Alloy KW - Epitaxial films KW - Hierarchical microstructure Premartensite KW - Twinning KW - Magnetic shape memory PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2023.118902 SN - 1359-6454 VL - 252 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-57301 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andreoli, A. F. A1 - Fantin, Andrea A1 - Kasatikov, S. A1 - Bacurau, V. P. A1 - Widom, M. A1 - Gargarella, P. A1 - Mazzer, E. M. A1 - Woodcock, T. G. A1 - Nielsch, K. A1 - Coury, F. G. T1 - The impact of chemical short-range order on the thermophysical properties of medium- and high-entropy alloys JF - Materials & Design N2 - The unusual behavior observed in the coefficient of thermal expansion and specific heat capacity of CrFeNi, CoCrNi, and CoCrFeNi medium/high-entropy alloys is commonly referred to as the K-state effect. It is shown to be independent of the Curie temperature, as demonstrated by temperature-dependent magnetic moment measurements. CoCrFeNi alloy is chosen for detailed characterization; potential reasons for the K-state effect such as texture, recrystallization, and second-phase precipitation are ruled out. An examination of the electronic structure indicates the formation of a pseudo-gap in the Density of States, which suggests a specific chemical interaction between Ni and Cr atoms upon alloying. Hybrid Monte Carlo/Molecular Dynamic (MC/MD) simulations indicate the presence of non-negligible chemical short-range order (CSRO). Local lattice distortions are shown to be negligible, although deviations around Cr and Ni elements from those expected in a fully disordered structure are experimentally observed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The determined bonding distances are in good agreement with MC/MD calculations. A mechanism is proposed to explain the anomalies and calorimetric experiments and their results are used to validate the mechanism. KW - Mechanical Engineering KW - Mechanics of Materials KW - General Materials Science PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-595869 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2024.112724 SN - 0264-1275 VL - 238 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-59586 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -