Surface relief and domain structure of ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

A study is made of the surface corrugation during thermal cycling of ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMA). This specific feature is a property of FSMA alloys and is a consequence of martensitic phase transformations not necessarily connected with surface defects of the material. The surface relief structure was studied together with martensite and magnetic domain structure changes during thermal cycling of the samples with the aid of differential polarized light microscopy. The analysis was facilitated making use of auxiliary reference grids applied to the surface of the samples