Influence of structural transition on the electronic structures and physical properties of Ni2MnGa alloy films

Ordered and disordered Ni2MnGa alloy films were prepared by flash evaporation onto substrates maintained at 720 K and 150 K, respectively. The results show that the ordered films behave in nearly the same way as the bulk Ni2MnGa ferromagnetic shape-memory alloy, including the martensitic transformation at 200 K, while the disordered films exhibit characteristics of amorphous alloys. It was also found that the disordering in Ni2MnGa alloy films did not change to any appreciable magnetic ordering down to 4 K. Annealing of the disordered films restores the ordered structure with an almost full recovery of the magnetic, magneto-optical and transport properties of the ordered Ni2MnGa alloy films. It was also understood, for the first time, how the structural ordering in the films influences the physical properties, including the surprising loss of ferromagnetism in the disordered films, as a result of performing electronic-structure calculations.