Although Heusler alloys have been known for more than a century, but since the last decade there has been a quantum jump in research in this area. Heusler alloys show remarkable properties, such as ferromagnetic shape memory effect, magnetocaloric effect, half metallicity, and most recently it has been shown that it can be used for direct conversion of heat into electricity. Heusler alloys Ni-Mn-Z (Z=Ga, Al, In, Sn, Sb), show a reversible martensitic transformation and unusual magnetic properties. Other classes of intermetallic Heusler alloy families that are half metallic (such as the half Heusler alloys Ni-Mn-Sb and the full Heusler alloy Co2MnGe) are attractive because of their high Curie temperature and structural similarity to binary semiconductors. Unlike Ni-Mn-Ga, Ni-Mn-In and Ni-Mn-Sn transform from ferromagnetic austenite to non-ferromagnetic martensite. As is consistent with the Clausius-Clapeyron equation, the martensitic phase transformation can be manipulated by a magnetic field, leading to possible applications of these materials enabling the magnetic shape memory effect, energy conversion and solid state refrigeration. In this paper, we summarize the salient features of Heusler alloys, like the structure, magnetic properties and potential application of this family of alloys in industry.
Changes in magnetic domain structure during twin boundary motion in single crystal Ni-Mn-Ga exhibiting magnetic shape memory effect