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To obtain a material exhibiting magnetically induced reorientation (MIR), one of the magnetic shape memory effects, a well-developed method for single crystal growth is crucial. A [ 100 ] oriented Ni2MnGa single crystal exhibiting MIR was successfully prepared using the floating-zone technique with a high speed of 80 mm/h. The comparison with a sample grown by Bridgman method and a reference sample grown in AdaptaMat Ltd. by directional solidification is provided based on elemental homogeneity, crystallographic quality by x-ray diffraction, transformation behaviour and magnetic properties. All these methods indicated that the single crystal grown by floating zone with high speed is comparable or superior to the samples prepared by other methods. Importantly, the magnetization measurement revealed that the single crystal prepared this way exhibits MIR down to 10 K.

We report on an infrared magneto-spectroscopy study of Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Se, a topological crystalline insulator. We have examined a set of samples, all in the inverted regime of electronic bands, with the tin composition varying from $x=0.2$ to $0.33$. Our analysis shows that the observed response, composed of a series of interband inter-Landau level excitations, can be interpreted and modelled using the relativistic-like Hamiltonian for three-dimensional massive Dirac electrons, expanded to include diagonal quadratic terms that impose band inversion. In our data, we have not found any clear signature of massless electron states that are present on the surface of Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Se crystals in the inverted regime. Reasons for this unexpected result are discussed., 11 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B

The present study deals with the thermal stability of the microstructure of the rapidly solidified ribbon-consolidated Mg97.94Zn0.56Y1.5 alloy. In the consolidated state, the material has a very fine-grained microstructure with an average grain size of ~790 nm and contains Zn- and Y-rich stacking faults (SFs) in basal planes. SFs are dispersed in an individual manner or organized in the blocks forming a Mille-feuille structure (MFS). The alloy is characterized by a weak basal texture with a more pronounced intensity at the 10 1 ¯ 0 pole. In order to study the thermal stability of the microstructure, isothermal annealing in a temperature range of 300–500 °C was applied. The microstructure is thermally stable up to 400 °C, which is exceptionally high compared to conventional ultra-fine grained magnesium alloys. At higher temperatures, the growth of the grain size and redistribution of the texture intensity is related to the recrystallization process. The order of dispersion of the solute-segregated SFs is independent of the annealing temperatures. However, there is a change in the arrangement of SFs in the grains: the thickness of the SFs blocks increases with increasing temperature, i.e., the stacking faults became more agglomerated. Nevertheless, even after annealing at 500 °C, there is still a mixture of several polytypes of the long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) phase rather than a single-ordered LPSO phase.

Permalloy is a widespread material used in numerous fundamental experiments and novel spintronic, optoelectronic devices. In order to model their response or tailor the optimal experimental parameters it is necessary to know the optical and magneto-optical properties of this material over a wide spectral range. We report on the systematic study of optical and magneto-optical properties of 10 nm and 150 nm thick permalloy films by means of spectroscopic ellipsometry and magneto-optical spectroscopy. To study the influence of the surface oxidization, the samples were prepared with and without Au capping layer. Spectral dependence of the complete permittivity tensor was derived from experimental data in a broad spectral range covering IR, visible and UV regions. All samples exhibited metallic-like optical and magneto-optical properties with clear differences in 10 nm thick bare sample. These differences to overall optical and magneto-optical properties of nanometer-thick permalloy layers were ascribed to a strong influence of the surface oxide. Keywords: Permalloy, Thin films, Spectroscopic ellipsometry, Magnetooptical Kerr effect spectroscopy, Complex permittivity tensor, Oxidation

The magnetooptic Kerr effect (MOKE) is a well known and handy tool to characterize ferro-, ferri- and antiferromagnetic materials. Many of the MOKE techniques employ effects solely linear in magnetization $\bm{M}$. Nevertheless, a higher-order term being proportional to $\bm{M}^2$ and called quadratic MOKE (QMOKE) can additionally contribute to the experimental data. Here, we present detailed QMOKE spectroscopy measurements in the range of 0.8 -- 5.5\,eV based on a modified 8-directional method applied on ferromagnetic bcc Fe thin films grown on MgO substrates. From the measured QMOKE spectra, two further complex spectra of the QMOKE parameters $G_s$ and $2G_{44}$ are yielded. The difference between those two parameters, known as $\Delta G$, denotes the strength of the QMOKE anisotropy. Those QMOKE parameters give rise to the QMOKE tensor $\bm{G}$, fully describing the perturbation of the permittivity tensor in the second order in $\bm{M}$ for cubic crystal structures. We further present experimental measurements of ellipsometry and linear MOKE spectra, wherefrom permittivity in the zeroth and the first order in $\bm{M}$ are obtained, respectively. Finally, all those spectra are described by ab-initio calculations., Comment: 15 pages + references, , 15 Figures

A series of single crystal Ni2MnGa1-xInx samples, varying in compositions between x = 0 to 0.15, were grown by Bridgman method. Critical temperatures were obtained from the magnetisation and electrical resistivity measurements. A Curie temperature and the temperatures of pre-martensitic and martensitic transformation decrease with increasing indium content. The decrease rate is faster than the rate published previously on polycrystalline samples, since no martensitic transformation was observed in our samples with the indium content x > 0.05. The results of X-ray diffraction measurements of low temperature martensitic phase show significant decrease of monoclinic lattice parameter a and increase of monoclinic lattice parameter c and γ angle with respect to increasing indium content. Composition dependence was observed also for the modulation vector in martensitic and pre-martensitic phase, where its x and y coordinates gain values around 3/7 and 1/3 respectively.

Subtle changes of (micro-) structure can have far-reaching consequences for magnetic shape memory (MSM) effect, also called magnetic induced reorientation (MIR). Detailed X-ray structure analysis using reciprocal mapping of Ni-Mn-Ga single crystals exhibiting MIR at room temperature and prepared in single macrotwin orientation revealed 10M modulated structure. It indicated that the modulation was harmonic, i.e. commensurate, but it also showed that the difference when compared to non-commensurate mode or even to adaptive model was very small. The distinction between commensurate and non-commensurate modulation could not be reliably resolved due to large broadening of diffraction peaks. The broadening was caused by small size (less than 100 nm) of structurally coherent L21 ordered domains. The small size of these coherent domains is a result of large concentration of antiphase boundaries.

The evolution of local ferroelectric lattice distortions in multiferroic Ge1−xMnxTe is studied by x-ray diffraction, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory. We show that the anion/cation displacements smoothly decrease with increasing Mn content, thereby reducing the ferroelectric transition from 700 to 100 K at x = 0.5, where the ferromagnetic Curie temperature reaches its maximum. First principles calculations explain this quenching by different local bond contributions of the Mn 3d shell compared to the Ge 4s shell in excellent quantitative agreement with the experiments.

The evolution of local ferroelectric lattice distortions in multiferroic Ge1-x Mn x Te is studied by x-ray diffraction, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory. We show that the anion/cation displacements smoothly decrease with increasing Mn content, thereby reducing the ferroelectric transition from 700 to 100 K at x = 0.5, where the ferromagnetic Curie temperature reaches its maximum. First principles calculations explain this quenching by different local bond contributions of the Mn 3d shell compared to the Ge 4s shell in excellent quantitative agreement with the experiments.